The Linfield Wildcats are headed to the 2023 Northwest Conference Women's Tennis Tournament after finishing the regular season with an 11-2 record and 7-1 mark against conference opponents, good enough to earn the No. 2 seed in the tourney.
 
The Wildcats have won the past three consecutive NWC Tournaments and 11 all-time, the most of any NWC program. They have reached the tournament every year since its inception in 1999.
 
The tournament will be hosted by regular-season champion Whitman. The Blues finished the year with an 11-5 record, going 8-0 in the NWC. This is the first time since 2018 that the conference tournament has not been held in McMinnville.
 
Semifinal action begins Saturday at 10 a.m. as the host Blues play No. 4 seed Lewis & Clark (7-8, 5-3). Linfield begins postseason play at 2 p.m. against No. 3 seed George Fox (9-8, 6-2). The championship match will be played between Saturday's winners on Sunday at noon.
 
Whitman will provide live stats and video coverage for all matches.
 
ITA RANKINGS
The top-seeded Blues lead all NWC teams with the No. 29 spot on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's most recent Top-40.
 
Whitman is ranked No. 7 in the West Region. Angel Le is the top-ranked singles player in the league at No. 6 regionally. She's joined in the regional singles rankings by teammates Arianna Castellanos at No. 20 and Camilla Tarpey-Schwed at No. 23. Le and and Castellanos are also ranked as the No. 5 doubles team in the west.
 
Linfield is back in the national rankings at No. 39 and is up to No. 9 regionally. Seniors Lexie Matsunaga and Allena Wong are ranked as the No. 13 doubles team in the West.
 
George Fox is ranked No. 15 in the West Region. Lewis & Clark is unranked but has won five of its final seven matches to end the season.
 
DOUBLES
Doubles play has been a strength for the Wildcats all season long, Linfield amassing a 28-10 record in doubles this year.
 
Matsunaga and Wong lead the doubles lineup for Linfield in the top flight. They've put together a 7-3 record as the No. 1 team to earn their regional ranking and are fresh off an 8-3 win on Senior Day against Lewis & Clark.

Linfield's No. 2 team features the senior/sophomore pairing of Taryn Fujimori and Emma Tuttle, who are 7-2 as a team and have won five straight matches entering the postseason. The Wildcats' have found great success on the No. 3 line, where Sarah Forester and Alexis Garner are a team-best 8-2. The duo has won their last four matches.
 
SINGLES
Linfield is 48-23 in singles matches and 31-10 against NWC foes.
 
Linfield is led in singles by Fujimori as the No. 1 and Matsunaga as the No. 2. Fujimori is 5-5 this season in singles and 3-3 in the NWC. Matsunaga is 6-3 overall and 2-2 in conference.
 
Forester has controlled the action all year in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. The junior is a team-best 9-2 this season and is riding a five-match win streak heading into the tournament. Wong has posted a 7-4 record this season, going 6-3 when playing as Linfield's No. 4.
 
Sophomore Emma Tuttle has recorded an 8-3 record on the year and has gone 6-2 in the No. 5 flight. No. 6 singles has mostly been played by freshman Lisa Ponti. The Westminster, California, product has posted a 7-4 record and has won both matches she has played above the final line.