By Roy Elia

WALLA WALLA - No. 16 nationally-ranked Whitman raised its Northwest Conference-best women's tennis record to 6-0 and moved to 7-6 overall after a 9-0 victory over Puget Sound Saturday afternoon on the Missionaries' outdoor courts.

"We talked all week about using this week to get better," Whitman coach John Hein said. "The team did an amazing job of that. This weekend was the culmination of a week of hard work on the court and in the classroom. They supported each other and depended on their training and performed really well."

All three of Whitman's doubles teams - Courtney Lawless and Maddy Webster at No. 1, Erin Bell and Katrina Allick at No. 2, and Seana Minuth and Allie Wallin at No. 3 - posted triumphs by similar counts of 8-2.

Saturday's tightest singles match occurred at No. 3. Bell defeated the Loggers' Liz Chao, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

The rest of the Missionary singles group came up short in only 16 games. Lawless delivered a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 1, Jenna Dobrin won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2, and Allick came through at No. 4, 6-4, 6-2.

Hannah Palkowitz and Wallin were winners at No. 5 and 6, respectively. Palkowitz was a 6-0, 6-4 victor and Wallin was victorious, 6-2, 6-0.

"I was proud of everybody as a team," Hein said. "Everybody did what they needed to do to win their matches."

The Missionaries begin a five-match stretch in California on Wednesday against No. 7 nationally-ranked Bowdoin in Whittier and NAIA opponent Biola in La Mirada.