HILLSBORO, Ore. – Taryn Fujimori is starting to heat up at the right time while Tayah Kelley continues to plow through the Northwest Conference as the two Linfield University standouts were once again named Northwest Conference Student-Athletes of the Week on Monday.
 
Fujimori was selected as the NWC Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week for the second straight week after leading the Wildcats to a pair of wins in eastern Washington. The 'Cats (10-2, 6-0 NWC) now sit atop the NWC standings after taking down Whitman, which entered the match undefeated against NWC opponents.
 
In Saturday's huge 6-3 win over Whitman, Fujimori won her No. 2 singles match over the Blues' Erica Mock with scores of 6-4, 6-4 and 6-0. She and partner Maggie Fiocchi won No. 2 doubles over Ilina Jha and Irene Tsai, 8-3. Fujimori and Fiocchi won No. 2 doubles again in a 9-0 win over Whitworth on Sunday. The duo defeated the Pirates' Kyndal Locati and Gracie Smyley, 8-5. Fujimori moved up to the No. 1 singles spot against the Pirates, beating Aleah Kert 7-6, 4-6, 1-0.
 
Now a five-time NWC Softball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week in 2022, Kelley was nearly untouchable in the circle for the first-place Wildcats as they swept Puget Sound, three of those games ending in five innings due to eight-run mercy rules. Linfield (29-7, 21-3 NWC) moved within one win of clinching at least a share of the program's 15^th NWC championship. They can clinch the title outright with two wins over Pacific in the final series of the regular season.
 
Kelley picked up two wins and a save against Puget Sound. She threw four innings in a combined no-hitter against the Loggers in Friday's opener. She issued one walk but struck out every other batter that she faced, finishing with 12 Ks. Kelley earned her second save of the season in Friday's nightcap, striking out the side in the last inning. She came back in Game 3 on Saturday and struck out 10 more batters while allowing just one run on one hit in five innings of work. Kelley is 18-3 on the season and leads the NWC with 182 strikeouts and a 1.16 ERA.
 
NEXT
Linfield women's tennis ends the regular season at home, hosting Pacific Lutheran on Friday and Puget Sound on Saturday. The NWC tournament will be hosted by the regular-season champion on April 23-24.
 
Linfield softball also wraps up its regular season this week, hosting a doubleheader with Pacific on Friday before finishing the series in Forest Grove on Saturday. A doubleheader sweep of the Boxers on Senior Day would clinch the 'Cats the top seed and hosting duties in the NWC tournament, which will take place April 22-24.