McMINNVILLE, Ore. – For the second consecutive year the Linfield women's tennis team claimed the Northwest Conference Tournament Championship on Sunday, beating the Whitworth Pirates 5-0 to guarantee a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It marks the 11
th NWC Tournament title for the Wildcats in the tournament's 22-season history.
It is the third straight season that Linfield (14-2, 8-0) has claimed both the regular season and conference tournament championships and second consecutive under head coach
Ella Riddle Maliska.
Whitworth, seeded third in the tournament, ends the year with a 9-8 record. The Pirates went 6-2 against NWC competition during the regular season.
Linfield played as strong as they have at any point in the year to record their eighth shutout win this season, including Saturday's 9-0 semi-final win over the Whitman Blues.
DOUBLES
The 'Cats immediately showed its significant advantage in the matchup as soon as doubles play began, with Linfield's No. 1 doubles team of
Tessa Kern and
Lexie Matsunaga defeating Whitworth's Aleah Kert and Hannah Plank.
Kern and Matsunaga now hold an impressive 10-2 record as Linfield's top pairing this season.
The second doubles flight was the only of the three where the Pirates stole more than one set from the Wildcats. It featured
Maggie Fiocchi and
Taryn Fujimori beating Gracie Smyly and Kyndal Locati 8-3 to improve to a team-best record of 11-2 as a duo.
The No. 3 flight was also quickly in Linfield's favorite, as
Allena Wong and
Emma Tuttle moved to 9-2 as a team with an 8-1 victory over Grace Bethards and Kara Nelson.
With the score set at 3-0 following doubles play, Linfield sat in prime position to clinch victory early.
SINGLES
Linfield quickly claimed the conference title with pure domination in the No.'s 5 and 6 flights.
Fiocchi, playing in the No. 6 flight continued 12-match win streak with an undeniable 6-0, 6-0 win over Whitworth's Nicole Resanovic as the first singles flight to go final. Fiocchi's season record sits at 13-2.
The match was concluded with Wong taking complete control over Bethards in the No. 5 flight, winning 6-1, 6-0 to clinch the match advantage and claim the tournament championship.
Wong improved to 11-4 on the year and is on now an 11-match wins streak.
The top four singles flights went unfinished with Linfield leading at 5-0.
Kern led Kert, 6-3, 3-0 in the No. 1 flight, Fujimori led Plank 6-3, 2-1 in the No. 2 flight, Matsunaga led Smyley 6-3, 3-2 in the No. 3 flight and
Sarah Forester led Locati 6-3, 3-2 in the No. 4 flight at the time of the match's completion.
NEXT
Linfield's tournament championship guarantees the Wildcats a trip to the NCAA Regionals on May 12 and an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Finals from May 23-29 in Orlando. The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in the ITA's Division III Women's Tennis team rankings.
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