WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Overtime. Extra innings. Either of those might claim to be more nerve-wracking than a tiebreaker in tennis. But perhaps not so much if the tennis tiebreaker determines a match.

Definitely not, though, if that tiebreaker not only determines the match but also the Northwest Conference tournament and automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, as did Saturday afternoon's battle between Whitman College's Allie Wallin and Lewis & Clark College's Kacey Incerpi in the tournament final at the Whitman Tennis Courts.

With a very vocal throng of more than 200 surrounding court 4 -- as luck would have it, the end court -- both Incerpi and Wallin slugged it out with long rallies and an ebb and flow of momentum until Wallin captured the last point in her 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) victory at No. 4 singles to earn the 23rd-ranked Missionaries their fourth straight conference tournament crown with a 5-4 victory over the 29th-ranked Pioneers.

Ironically, it was Wallin who captured the fifth and clinching point on the same court last spring when Whitman won its third straight NWC tournament.

The end of the championship match was certainly not how the day began as Whitman raced to a 3-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches.

Sisters Courtney Lawless and Morgan Lawless steamrolled Incerpi and Christine Eliazo, 8-0, at No. 1 doubles for the morning's initial point.

At 2-doubles Hanna Greenberg and Madison Webster broke open a 3-3 match against Lewis & Clark's Summer Garrison and Claudia Lew winning three straight games before finishing off an 8-4 victory.

Wallin and partner Erin Bell weren't as quick at 3-doubles, having to stretch into -- regarding Wallin's day, what else? -- a deciding tiebreaker before clinching the third point with a 9-8 (9-7) win over Aurora Garrison and Wiktoria Plawska.

The doubles sweep left Whitman only two points shy of earning the tournament crown, and boy, were those last two points earned.

Singles action began with Courtney Lawless, Morgan Lawless and Wallin breaking out to first-set wins, seemingly in a race to see who could earn the tournament-winning point.

The Pioneers would have something to say about that, though.

Lew took a straight-set win from Whitman's Lindsey Brodeck at No. 6 followed shortly thereafter by Eliazo's 2-0 win over Bell at 5-singles.

Morgan Lawless finished off Plawska, 6-2 and 6-4, at No. 3 to inch the Missionaries to within a single point, 4-2, of the championship but the outcome that possessed an air of certainty earlier suddenly got a lot more interesting.

While Summer Garrison was squaring her match at No. 1 with a set-two victory against Courtney Lawless, the other half of the two sister combinations on the court, Aurora Garrison, was taking a hard-fought win at No. 2 from Whitman's Jenna Dobrin. That L&C win narrowed the gap and left the Nos. 1 and 4 singles matches on the courts to determine the championship.

Wallin had dropped set two to Incerpi, evening that match at No. 4 to 1-1, at one end of the courts and on the other end Summer Garrison and Courtney Lawless were eventually knotted at 5-5 in the deciding third set.

A service break and a hold by Summer Garrison allowed the Pioneers' leader to capture the tying point for her team with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Courtney Lawless.

Action and the accompanying fans that had been split between the two end courts quickly tilted to one end, surrounding Wallin and Incerpi on three sides with the whole of the fan base, and on the fourth side with the two teams cheering loudly with each point of their teammates.

Between the roars Wallin and Incerpi crept toward the end of their epic battle.

Incerpi broke in front, 2-0, to start the third set but Wallin rallied with three straight to wrest the lead away…only to have Incerpi mount her own rally with a pair of wins.

Wallin pulled back even, at 4-4, with a win but Incerpi scratched out another game for a 5-4 lead -- one game away from clinching the team title for her Pio teammates.

It wasn't going to be that easy for either player, however, as Wallin answered with a win to knot the set at 5-5 then broke in front with a win to put herself one win away from a championship point.

Incerpi didn't allow that, taking the 12th game of the set to send the match into a tiebreaker set.

First to 7, win by 2.

This would be Wallin's second tiebreaker of the day. Would her nerves hold? Would her body still respond?

"One thing about our team," said head coach John Hein, "is that we know how we fight back and believe in each other. So while it may have been a bit nerve-wracking we also know that someone's going to step up and pull it out for us.

"Allie works hard on her fitness; we all knew that and that knowledge allowed us to believe that the work she did before today wound enable her to win today."

The tiebreaker wasn't really close. Wallin streaked out to a 5-0 lead, surrendered two points, then won the next two to take the set, match, and tournament.

It would be nice to say 'and just like that' the Missionaries had four-peated. Saturday there was no 'just like that' as one of the best battles within the league all season saved itself for the conference's final match.

"What a mix of emotions!" an elated Hein exclaimed. "I'm not only happy for our team, but also for Lewis & Clark as their response today makes us better and helps the whole league improve."

The victory by Whitman moves the Missionaries into the NCAA Division III tournament that is set to take place at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, on May 18-23.

"One of the best things about the NCAAs for our players is that they get to continue to be together and play together," said Hein. "We have such a tight-knit team that they feel they've earned more time together just as much as they've earned another trip to nationals."