MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Shorthanded once again the Wildcats showed grit in their performance on Saturday against cross-county rival George Fox but fell 7-0 in Rutschman Fieldhouse.
The highlight of the day was the fourth win of the season and second straight victory at No. 1 doubles for
Emma Tuttle and
Kaitlynn Canubida.
Both players continued to contribute competitive stability at the top of the lineup for a Linfield team that had only five healthy, active players on its roster Saturday, forcing Linfield to forfeit points by default to the Bruins at No. 3 doubles and No. 5 singles.
DOUBLES
With a win in hand before the day's opening serve George Fox managed to quickly clinch the team score doubles point with a 6-0 win in the No. 2 flight for Abigail Bond and Juhree Kizziar against
Lilianna Cano and
Sundi King.
However, Tuttle and Canubida managed to ignore the clinching action on the neighboring court and continue their determined effort at the top of the scorecard after establishing the upper hand early on against Bruin sister-act Sophie and Shanah Denham.
Linfield's lead duo paced the action through the final point to eventually win 6-4 and improve to 4-2 on the spring season.
SINGLES
Both Tuttle and Canubida showed strong efforts in their singles matches at the top two spots on Linfield's ladder but eventually fell in three sets.
Tuttle faced a tough task at No. 1 singles playing Kalli Wiker, a first team all-NWC honoree in 2024, who did not play in the match's doubles action.
Wiker took the opening set before Tuttle responded in the second frame but was outlasted by the rested Bruin 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Canubida took her opponent, Shanah Denham, to three sets as well before eventually falling in a back-and-forth affair at No. 2. Denham took the first set by three before Canubida commanded the second but dropped a close final set as Denhamn won 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Both matches followed
Sundi King's loss at No. 3 singles, who showed strong improvement through her match when she lost to a rested Cassey Hitch 6-0, 6-4. It was the highest lineup placement the Linfield freshman has seen all season.
Denham's win over Canbudia served as the clincher on the day, which concluded moments after Tuttle's loss at No. 1.
Linfield took two more singles losses with a rested Arianna Rader beating Liliana Cano 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 followed by Bond beating
Elise Reese 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5.
George Fox improved to 8-1 overall 7-1 in NWC action. The Wildcats have now lost five straight going into the conference's spring schedule break.
NEXT
Linfield and the rest of the NWC will take a two-week break through late March as teams travel to warmer climates for competition over their universities spring breaks.
The Wildcats head to southern California to play three members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Linfield will face Whittier on March 24 at 4 p.m. before playing Caltech on March 26 and Cal Lutheran on March 27.
Linfield returns to league action at home on March 29 against Lewis & Clark.
