TACOMA, Wash. – Saturday afternoon's 8-1 victory over host Pacific Lutheran University clinched the regular-season Northwest Conference title for Whitman College's women's tennis team. The Missionaries'
Courtney Lawless,
Morgan Lawless,
Allie Wallin and
Alexandra Sigouin each won twice during the match against the Lutes on their home courts.
Saturday's victory lifts Whitman to 11-0 in the league, and 14-5 overall, with one NWC match remaining. The Lutes fall to 7-8 overall and 3-8 in the conference.
Dominating doubles play previewed the final verdict Saturday as Whitman swept through three PLU pairings. Wallin and Sigouin earned the first point with an 8-4 triumph at No. 2, followed by the tandem of
Lindsey Brodeck and
Jenna Gilbert's 8-3 win at 3-doubles. Soon after the 3's were finished the No. 1 pairing of the Lawless sisters completed their 8-2 win over the Lutes' top team of Caroline Dreher and Samantha Lund.
Now only two points away from clinching not only the match victory but also the regular season crown, the Missionaries added those points with singles wins by, first, Wallin at No. 4 and then
Morgan Lawless at No. 3. Wallin steam rolled PLU's Megan Beyers -- half of the pairing that had fallen to Wallin and Sigouin at 2-doubles -- in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-1, and Lawless roared past Lund by a pair of 6-2 scores.
Any celebration had to wait, though, with four more matches still on the courts.
Jenna Dobrin at No. 2 and
Courtney Lawless at No. 1 kept the streak rolling with straight-set victories before PLU's Emily Bower would tussle with Whitman's
Lindsey Brodeck into a super-tiebreaker third set. Bower had captured the opening set but Brodeck won the second by a commanding 6-1 margin. The two went nearly point for point in the tiebreaker with Bower finally outlasting Brodeck by a 14-12 count for the Lutes' lone victory on the day.
That left Sigouin and Emily Beemsterboer on the courts in the final match, but the results weren't long in coming as Sigouin pounded out a 6-4, 6-3 win to close out the day.
The 2015 NWC tournament will be hosted by the Missionaries for the second consecutive season. Whitman's men on Friday clinched the NWC regular season title as well meaning both postseason tournaments will be played on the Whitman courts. The women's tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Walla Walla. The winners of Friday's semifinal matches advance into Saturday morning's championship match.
