SALEM, Ore. – Linfield broke through Sunday for its first win of the 2026 campaign beating the Willamette Bearcats 4-3 in thrilling fashion at the Willamette University Tennis Courts.
The Wildcats found themselves trailing early on after being swept in doubles and on the brink of defeat after two early losses in singles but saw a strong comeback capped off by a three-set win by
Kaitlynn Canubida at No. 1 to clinch a Linfield victory.
"This really feels long overdue and I couldn't be more proud of this team and their effort today following a very tough loss yesterday to UPS," said head coach
Phil Whitehead.
DOUBLES
Linfield struggled through doubles, allowing Willamette to secure the first point of the day.
At No. 1 Canubida and partner
Emily Redwood were shutout 6-0 by top Bearcat duo Alex de Crinis and Reese Beyrouty, while
Sundi King and
Gianna Molony fell to Eva Leif and Sofia Spencer 6-2.
No. 3 was the most competitive doubles flight, where Grace O'Steen and Alicia Sola beat
Lyla Khlee and
Steffenie Stark 6-3, the two squads battling back and forth before the Willamette pair pulled away.
SINGLES
Though doubles had been one-sided the match became tied at the start of singles when Spencer was forced to forfeit due to injury at No. 3 singles, drawing the score even at 1-1.
But the tie didn't last long with Willamette taking two quick wins, Leif beating Molony 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 and Katie Briggs beating
Lilianna Cano 6-1, 6-2 to set up a chance to clinch for the Bearcats.
The Wildcats rallied back through the remaining three flights, shaking off the slow start with newfound focus.
"I gathered the team together after doubles and basically told them to stop giving away free points and if the Bearcats were going to win, make them have to beat us," said Whitehead. "We just needed to be more disciplined with our shot selection."
The Wildcats managed to do just that, starting with an impressive performance by
Emily Redwood at No. 2, battling with Beyrouty through a competitive first set before dominating the second to win 6-4, 6-1.
"Emily played her most complete match in over a month to win in straight sets," said Whitehead. "She played a lot of tennis on a bad back this weekend but she absolutely saved her best for last. I was so impressed by her play today."
The match drew even when Khlee picked up the first singles win of her freshman season, controlling a straight sets win in a clutch situation by beating Alicia Sola 6-1, 6-3 to set the match score at 3-3.
"I'm so happy for Lyla and just in awe of how she got control of her match early and never let off the gas. Well done," said Whitehead.
The match came down to the top flight between Canubida and de Crinis in what ended up being a three-set thriller.
Canubida narrowly took the first set, being forced into an extra game, before it looked like de Crinis was on a mission to come back with a four-game win in the second frame. But the third ended up being a similar story to the first, a back-and-forth set that saw multiple match points before it would go Canubida's way to record a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 win a clinch victory for the 'Cats for the first time on the season.
"The first set was a dogfight before de Crinis raised her game," said Whitehead. "The level of tennis kept getting higher and higher but Kaitlynn was tough and just refused to be denied."
NEXT
Linfield will take a break from Northwest Conference play to travel south for three matches against members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Tennis Conference.
The trip begins with a match at Occidental (2-7) on Sunday, March 22 in Los Angeles. Linfield visits Caltech (3-1) in Pasadena the next day before facing Cal Lutheran (6-1) for a second time this season on March 25.
The Wildcats return home to resume league play against Whitworth on March 29.
