CLAREMONT, Calif. – In a skirmish between Missionaries and Saints Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center it was the Whitman College women that pounced on the College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) for a 5-0 victory in the opening round of the NCAA 2015 Women's Tennis Tournament.
The 22nd-ranked Missionaries (18-5) advance into the regional's second round Saturday when they will square off against N. 10 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (14-6) in a 10 a.m. match at the Tennis Center. Friday's loss ends St. Scholastica's season, sending the Saints home with a final record of 13-11.
Friday's first-round match broke in Whitman's favor early, but not without some push-back from the Saints.
"Scholastica played to its strengths in the beginning of the doubles matches," explained Whitman head coach
John Hein, "and it forced us to counter those strengths and pick up our game."
The first doubles match to finish varied from that script as
Erin Bell and
Allie Wallin rode a couple of early breaks into a 4-1 lead then coasted to an 8-2 victory over CSS's Alexia Brascugli and Katie Kingston at 3-doubles. The other courts were much tighter in the early going.
Madison Webster and
Hanna Greenberg at No. 2 held serve for Whitman early as did the Saints' tandem of Alexis Gunderson and Miki Samz. Tied at 2-2 Webster and Greenberg registered the first break of the match to go up 3-2 then held service for a 4-2 advantage. Gunderson and Samz held their own serve to creep within a game at 4-3 but Whitman held serve then picked up another break to move ahead 6-3. The St. Scholastica duo answered with a break of their own and followed with a hold to once again pull within one, at 6-5. Each pairing held serve over the match's final games allowing Whitman to add a second point with an 8-6 win.
Courtney Lawless and
Morgan Lawless took their first game at 1-singles with a break against Daniela Rojas and Madeleine Scanlon but the Saints broke right back then held for a 2-1 lead. Courtney and Morgan held their own serve, added another break then held again to slide in front 4-2. Both pairs held serve in the next games before Whitman added a third break to push ahead 6-3. Courtney held serve to make it 7-3 but it was Morgan's passing shot down the left side that clinched the ensuing break and the match for a commanding 3-0 lead for Whitman heading into singles action.
While Whitman's
Jenna Dobrin and Scholastica's Scanlan were slugging it out at No. 2 singles, going back and forth over their first eight games, the action in the five other courts were all tilted in the Missionaries' favor.
First to finish was Courtney at No. 1 with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Gunderson to put Whitman one point away from a Saturday date against Pomona-Pitzer. Morgan took care of that remaining point with a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of Rojas at 3-singles to end the match.
Dobrin and Scanlan were left tied at 4-4 but Wallin was up a set and 4-1 at No. 4, Bell was up a set and 2-1 at No. 5 and
Lindsey Brodeck was up a set and ahead 2-0 in the second at 6-singles to leave little doubt that any of them could have added winning points for the Missionaries.
"The way our season ended [with a victory in the Northwest Conference tournament's championship final] allowed us to come into nationals with a lot of confidence," said Hein. "Saturday's match will be another test as (Pomona-Pitzer) is a relatively young team but is playing very well at the end as well, having lost its conference tournament final to the No. 3 team in the country [regional host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges]."
Whitman and the Sagehens faced off during the 2014 season when an experienced Pomona-Pitzer squad downed the Missionaries 8-1 on the same courts at which Saturday's contest will be contested.
