Box Score WALLA WALLA, Wash. - After running the regular season table the Whitman College women's tennis team took care of business, topping Linfield 5-1 to claim its first Northwest Conference Tournament title since 2018 on Sunday at the Bratton Indoor Tennis Center.

The win gives the Blues the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament which begins in early May and is also the 200th career coaching victory for head coach John Hein.

The Blues took an early two-point lead after wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles courts. Third doubles was the first to finish as the team of Ilina Jha and Camilla Tarpey-Schwed took down the Wildcat pair of Sarah Forester and Alexis Garner, 8-4. Jin Yu and Teleya Blunt then took care of business at the three to put the Blues up by two.

In a competitive match on the No. 1 court, Linfield worked itself back in the match when the tandem of Angel Le and Sascha Wells fell to the Wildcat team of Alexis Matsunaga and Allena Wong, 8-5. Linfield's win left the Blues with only a one point lead heading to singles play.

The Blues proved to be too much for the Wildcats in singles action. Yu and Jha both won in straight sets at the three and four to put the Blues on the brink of the conference crown. The match-clincher came on the No. 1 court when Le rebounded from her doubles loss. She rallied to win a close first set before winning at love in set two (7-5, 6-0) to send the Blues to the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA field will be unveiled on Monday, May 1 at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT).