CLAREMONT, Calif.  Whitman had opened its two-day trip to Southern California with a win, but Saturday the 28th-ranked Blues ran into a big challenge at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, falling 9-0 to the No. 2 Athenas on their home surface at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

The loss leaves Whitman at 10-6 on the year while CMS improves its unbeaten record to 16-0.

Doubles action leaned heavily toward the Athenas' way as they swept the trio of matches without dropping more than three games.

Whitman picked up its game when the singles players took to the courts, though.

Lori Sheng in her 5-singles match bounced back from an opening-set 6-1 loss to square her match with Lauren Yamagami, taking the second with a 6-4 win. Yamagami bounced back, however, to steal the win with a 1-0 (10-4) tiebreaker win in the third set.

Mary Hill at No. 2 lost in straight sets but only dropped one service in the opening set and surrendering two in the next in falling 4 & 3.

Allie Wallin also pushed her opponent at the No. 3 spot, picking up a combined six game victories in her loss.

"This was a good match for us," said head coach John Hein. "We showed improvement over the results against them last season, so we're taking a lot of confidence away from the trip," during which the Blues earned a win Friday over 25th-ranked University of Redlands.