Linfield University Athletics

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Starting the postseason in emphatic fashion, the Linfield women's tennis team beat the George Fox Bruins 5-0 in the semifinal round of the Northwest Conference Women's Tennis Tournament.
 
Making their 25th consecutive NWC tourney appearance, the Wildcats (12-2, 7-1 NWC) set themselves up to clinch in the top singles contests after sweeping the Bruins (9-9, 5-2 NWC) through tightly contested doubles action.
 
Linfield advances to the finals to face host-seed and regular season champion Whitman (12-5, 8-0 NWC).
 
DOUBLES
Linfield's top doubles pair of Lexie Matsunaga and Allena Wong, ranked as the No. 13 doubles team in the West Region, immediately set the tone for the match with an 8-2 win in the top flight over George Fox's Cassey Hitch and Olivia Morris.
 
The Wildcats faced challenges the rest of doubles but eventually came away with extra-set wins in both contests.
 
Taryn Fujimori and Emma Tuttle won the No. 2 flight 8-7 over Ari Rader and Kalli Wiker before Sarah Forester and Alexis Garner outlasted Ellie Mangan and Brenna Vanderyacht in the third, winning by the same final score.
 
SINGLES
With a 3-0 advantage after doubles and the fuel of a pair of narrow wins, Linfield got decisive performances from their No. 1 and 2 singles player, Fujimori and Matsunaga, to clinch a spot in the championship round.
 
In the No. 1 flight, Fujimori left no doubt as she cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 over Wiker to put Matsunaga in a position to clinch the win for the Wildcats against Morris.
 
Matsunaga breezed through the opening set before falling in a tightly-contested second. She eventually ran away with the third to win 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 and send Linfield to the championship round for the seventh straight season.
 
The remaining four flights were all in action and left unfinished when Matsunga clinched. Linfield led 1-0 in three of them, save for the No. 5 line, where Emma Tuttle was leading four games to one in the third set.
 
NEXT
The Wildcats will face the host Blues tomorrow at noon. Linfield is playing for its fourth straight NWC Tournament Championship and 12th in program history. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships.
 
Whitman was ranked No. 29 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 40 and is the No. 7 team in the West. Linfield is ranked No. 39 nationally and No. 9 in the region.