WALLA WALLA, Wash. - The Whitman College women's tennis team played its Northwest Conference home opener today, coming up just short in a hard-fought, competitive 5-4 loss to Linfield at the Bratton Indoor Tennis Center. The Blues (4-5, 1-1 NWC) and Wildcats had originally scheduled to play the match outdoors but due to the snow-covered courts, the match was moved indoors.

The contest was about as tight as could be. A truly back-and-forth contest, the result came down to the No. 6 singles court where Kattie Pak could not hold on to her one-set lead, falling to Linfield's Michelle Ly 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

The Blues put themselves in a position for the exciting finish by salvaging double play with a victory on the No. 1 court. Whitman fell at two and three doubles before Mary Hill and Andrea Gu edged the Wildcat pair of Elsa Harris and Michelle Uyeda, 8-6.

Lori Sheng evened the match for Whitman with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 over Alysse Nakasato at the four. The two teams traded straight-set wins before Hill beat Harris for a second time, here holding her off on the No. 2 court 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to put the Blues a point from victory.

Linfield would unfortunatly see the final two results go its way to take the win. Audrey Grigore fell in straight sets at the five before Ly's match-clinching win over Pak on the No. 6 court.

Whitman will quickly look to rebound, retaking its home court on Sunday against Pacific (Ore.). Start time is set for 10:00 a.m.