FOREST GROVE, Ore.  A two-city tour on Saturday failed to faze Whitman's 26th-ranked women's tennis team as the Blues rolled to a pair of 9-0 Northwest Conference victories. The early-morning match against Willamette University started at 9 a.m. in Salem, Oregon, followed by a brief drive to Forest Grove where the Whits would eventually blank host Pacific University by the same score in a match that began at 3 p.m.

The first duals of the season left Whitman at 2-0 overall and 2-0 within the league. Pacific, which defeated College of Idaho in the morning, slipped to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference with the loss to the Blues, while Willamette ends the day 0-1 both overall and in the league.

The opening match at Willamette was a powerful one for the Blues who opened with a sweep of the three doubles matches, dropping just four games on the way to a quick 3-0 lead. Singles action was equally as dominant as each of the six players won in straight sets, combining to surrender only 18 games.

Lori Sheng was part of two of the most commanding performances in the match. She and Andrea Gu blanked their Wildcats opponents in the 2-doubles slot, 8-0, and then Sheng almost shut out Mina Muzatani at No. 4 singles, rolling to a 6-0, 6-1 win.

Gu also pounded out a singles victory, stream rolling Willamette's Mikaila Smith by scores of 6-1 and 6-4.

Making her first appearance in a competition for Whitman, newcomer Lorin DeMuth was able to register her first win, taking the 6-singles match, 3 and 2. And seeing her first action this season, after a semester abroad in the fall, junior Jenna Gilbert paired with Allie Wallin for an 8-4 doubles win at No. 3, then Gilbert sliced her way to a 1 and 2 straight-set win at 5-singles.

Though the scores of the matches were tighter at Pacific in the afternoon, the Blues were almost able to equal their results from the morning by taking down Pacific losing only one set.

Another doubles sweep pushed the Blues to within two points of the team victory. Mary Hill and Gu provided those points, first with Hill taking the No. 2 singles match 2 and 2, with Gu following soon after with a win at No. 3 by a count of 6-4, 6-2.

Sheng, again paired with Gu for a No. 2 doubles win, added to her domineering Saturday by nearly sweeping her singles match at No. 5, taking the win from Marissa Hayashi, 2 and 1.

Gilbert saw more action in her first day back on the competition courts, joining Wallin for another No. 3 doubles win then earning at point at 6-singles after the Boxers' Johanna Wilson retired, trailing Gilbert 4-1 in the first.

The Blues have three matches over the upcoming weekend, but will at least get to take them one day at a time. Friday's match is a conference bout at University of Puget Sound, with a league match at Pacific Lutheran University to follow on Saturday. The weekend continues Sunday with a non-conference match at Seattle University.