WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- The Lewis & Clark Pioneers were defeated in the Northwest Conference Championship final by the top seed Whitman Blues, 5-1, on Sunday at the Whitman Tennis Courts, ending a season that built on the historic run from a year ago.

The Pioneers reached the NWC Championship final for the first time in the tournament's current format after beating Pacific in the semifinals on Saturday. Additionally, the Pioneers reached as high as No. 26 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings this season and had eight of their 10 singles entrants reach the second round of the ITA Regional Championships last fall, a program first.

Lewis & Clark's only point in Sunday's NWC Championship final came from Gordon Barrows and Brenden Barrows, who won the top doubles match over Jake Hoeger and Robert Carter, 8-6. The other two matches were close. Ben DeLuca and Jackson Powell were defeated 8-6 by Gary Ho and Trevor Fennessy in No. 3 position, while Michael Brewer and Raed Attia fell 8-5 to Zach Hewlin and Petar Jivkov in the second pairing.

Although Lewis & Clark didn't pick up a point in singles, Brewer, one of two seniors along with DeLuca, led his singles match over Jivkov after an opening-set 7-5 win, but the match was unfinished after the Blues claimed the necessary team points to win the title. Hewlin defeated Attia, 6-2, 6-0, in the top singles match, while Carter beat Powell, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 4. Brenden Barrows lost 6-3, 6-4 to Ho in fifth position.

The Pios end the season 14-5, one more win than the team picked up a year ago.