SPOKANE, Wash.  Whitman's 28th-ranked women's tennis team cruised to a 9-0 sweep of host Whitworth University Wednesday afternoon at the Scotford Tennis Center and Cutter Courts, using the Northwest Conference win to inch atop the league's championship standings heading into the season's final weekend of the regular season.

The Blues (11-6, 9-1 NWC) lost just one game Wednesday on the indoor and outdoor courts of the Pirates (5-8, 3-5). The romp added a fifth point in the championship standings, moving Whitman ahead of No. 27 Linfield College's four points.

Doubles victories in all three positions spotted the Blues a quick 3-0 lead at Whitworth.

The penultimate point of the match came from Jenna Gilbert who drubbed the Pirates' Paige Rohrback in straight sets without surrendering a game in bout at 6-singles. Earlier in the day Gilbert had teamed with Lori Sheng at No. 3 doubles in an 8-5 triumph over Rohrback and Emily Sandquist.

It was Sheng who recorded the clinching point after Gilbert's win. Almost as quickly, Sheng earned the fifth point of the match for Whitman with a 1 and 0 win at 5-singles over Sandquist.

The rest were just icing on the cake as Hanna Greenberg, Mary Hill, Andrea Gu and Allie Wallin each won their singles matches.

Hill's was the longest of the day as she was forced into a third-set tiebreaker with Emma Jo Wiley at No. 2, eventually capping off the challenge with a 1-0 (10-4) tiebreak win.

Whitman hosts University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at the Whitman Tennis Courts. Both matches begin at 10 a.m.

The formula involved for conference postseason tournament spots prevents the Blues from clinching a spot with the win at Whitworth, but a victory on either day over the weekend would do so. Should Whitman sweep UPS and PLU -- teams they defeated by scores of 8-1 and 9-0, respectively, earlier in the season -- they could potentially tie for regular season title, depending upon Linfield's final results.