MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Lewis & Clark College women's tennis team dropped an 8-1 decision to second place Linfield University in Northwest Conference play but are still holding on to the fourth and final spot for the conference tournament.
THE BASICS
Linfield 8, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 6-8, 3-3 NWC)
(Linfield 11-2, 7-1 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Pioneers fell behind 3-0 after doubles play, dropping identical 8-3 matches at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Sophomore
Caren Uribe and junior
Seraphina Vossen lost at No. 1 to Lexie Matsunaga and Allena Wong, while sophomore
Hayley Kreps and junior
Arielle Bloom fell to Sarah Forester and Alexis Carner at the No. 3 spot. Sophomore
Kacie Lau and freshman
Susanna Anand almost grabbed a doubles point at No. 2 doubles, dropping an 8-6 match to Taryn Fujimori and Emma Tuttle.
Four of the singles matches saw the Pioneers compete against the Wildcats that they played in the doubles matches. Anand and Fujimori met again in the No. 1 singles match, where Anand fell 7-5 in the first set before Fujimori grabbed the match with a 6-0 win in the second set. Uribe fell to Matsunaga 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot. Vossen also dropped her singles match to her doubles opponent, losing 6-1, 6-3 to Wong at No. 4 singles. The last singles match to have familiar foes was at No. 3 singles, where Bloom dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision to Forester.
Kreps faced Tuttle for the first time on Saturday, falling 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot.
Lau earned the sole win for the Pioneers against the Wildcats as she overpowered Lisa Ponti 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lau has won three NWC singles matches in a row, and six of her last seven in singles play.
- Anand lost for the first time in NWC singles play and is currently 5-3 at No. 1 singles.
- Bloom and Vossen are both 4-2 against NWC opponents in singles matches.
- Anand and Lau teamed up this season for the first time in doubles play and pushed their opponents to the limits.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark plays their final NWC regular season home match tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Pacific University in the L&C Tennis Dome. Both teams are playing for a spot in the four-team NWC Tournament.