WALLA WALLA, Wash.
Lori Sheng's three-set victory Sunday at the Bratton Indoor Tennis Center lifted 27th-ranked Whitman to a 5-4 defeat of visiting and 23rd-ranked Lewis & Clark College, a Northwest Conference triumph that began with the Blues digging themselves out of a two-point deficit after the first two matches of the day.
The Pioneers (6-2, 6-2 NWC) picked up doubles wins at Nos. 1 and 3 before Sheng and
Andrea Gu finally got Whitman on the scoreboard with a taut 9-8 victory over L&C's Natasha Hood and Wiktoria Plawska.
That doubles win started the Blues on a roll as they swept the next three points in the match.
Hanna Greenberg's straight-set win at 4-singles evened the match, and
Allie Wallin's straight-set win at No. 3 pushed Whitman in front.
The first pivot point in singles play came at No. 2 where
Mary Hill broke in front of Josie Legarza with a first-set win, but dropped the second to square her match. Hill's completion of the match, with a 6-4 win, kept the Blues pointed in the right direction.
That three-set win proved vital, as the Pios roared back with a straight-set win at No. 6 followed by a three-set marathon between winner Plawska and Gu (7-5, 5-7, 7-5) that squared the match at 4-4.
With Sheng and Hood still on the courts in a 5-singles battle.
Hood squeezed out a 7-6 (7-5) opening-set win, but with the match on the line Sheng answered with a 7-5 win in the second.
Starting with Hood each player held serve in the match-deciding third set, but in the third game Sheng was able to break the serve of Hood to go up 2-1. The lead would grow to 3-1 as Sheng held serve.
Hood, then Sheng held on their serves to push the score to 4-2. But Sheng broke Hood again to inch one game closer to victory, for both herself and her team.
"I really felt a calmness and trust (at that point)," said Sheng. "Trust not only in myself but also in the stategies from Coach (
John Hein), Coach (
Brian Elliot) and (teammate) Cello (Lockwood).
"I knew that I needed to fight for the last point to help the team win the match. So I told myself 'one more ball' every single point."
Things worked out for Sheng as she stormed through the final game to win the match, and propel her team to the victory.
Sunday's win leaves the Blues and Linfield College atop the league standings.
Whitman heads into its spring break with a trip to the East Coast for a four-match swing, beginning with a neutral-site match against Bates (Maine) College on Wednesday in Lexington, Virginia.
