WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitman College men's tennis started their quest for another Northwest Conference championship Saturday afternoon against Whitworth University. In a match that did not last much longer than two hours the host Whits overpowered the Pirates, 5-0 in the NWC semifinal round.
 
Things started on a positive note for Whitman who swept doubles play, 3-0. Adam Rapoport and Gary Ho teamed up for an 8-2 win at number three, while Phillip Locklear and Zach Hewlin played to an 8-4 finish at number two. Whitman's number one duo, Jake Hoeger and Robert Carter wrapped up doubles with a dominant 8-3 win and sent the Whits in to singles with a strong advantage.
 
Heading into singles play the Whits needed just two matches to seal the semifinal win. Before Hewlin could finish up his first set 6-4, victory at number one, Ho had already registered the first singles win of the afternoon, 6-0, 6-0. From that point it was just a matter of time before the next match concluded. Whitman was up one set to none on every court and Chase Friedman and Petar Jivkov were looking at 5-0 leads in set two.
 
Friedman's, 6-2, 6-0 win was Whitman's final tally of the afternoon as the format of the NWC championships includes stoppage after one team collects five matches. Jivkov's match therefore ended with a score of 6-2, 5-0.
 
Locklear played to a 6-0, 3-2 match at the number two spot and Rapoport battled back to take the first set from Whitworth's Caleb Hughes, 7-5 and then led 1-0 in set two before Friedman's finish. The defending NWC champions looked good on day one and will look to continue their dominance in tomorrow's final.
 
The Whits will square off against either Pacific (Ore.) University or Lewis and Clark College, who are set to begin at 2 p.m. in their semifinal matchup.