After breezing by Pacific University 9-0 on Saturday, Feb. 27, completing their their third shut out of the season, Whitman’s women tennis took on the Linfield Wildcats Sunday, Feb. 28, on the outdoor courts. After many a hard-fought match, the Wildcats were able to squeak by Whitman 5-4, bringing Linfield’s Northwest Conference record to 4-2 and dropping the Missionaries to 3-2.
Linfield took an early 2-1 lead following the doubles matches and never looked back as the Missionaries and Wildcats split the six singles matches. Whitman went down at number one and three singles in close decisions, both matches fell 8-6 to Linfield. Senior Divneet Kaur and junior Elise Otto battled it out for position at number one doubles, but in the end, even Kaur’s encouraging words and both their efforts fell short.
At number three doubles, sophomore Emily Rolston and first-year Kate Kunkel-Patterson also fought hard; despite Rolston’s inspired play, they fell short as well.
Coach John Hein is pleased with the effort shown by the team this weekend and thinks that Whitman will prove to be even more formidable in upcoming matches.
“[Sunday against the Wildcats] was one of those matches that a few points here or there and we’d walk away with the win, so I’m definitely excited to play them again,” said Hein.
First-year Alyssa Roberg and senior Hadley Debree were the only Whitman duo that won, and they did so in dramatic fashion, winning the tiebreaker. With both girls giving it their all, uplifting on-court communication by Roberg and strong hits and serves by both DeBree and Roberg, the two were able to pull out the win, even after trailing 0-3 in the decisive tiebreak.
Unforced errors by both teams allowed break points to be won and lost and chances to slip away. However, the tiebreak showed just how focused and intense Roberg and Debree were and how much they wanted to win. After falling behind 0-3 due to three consecutive unforced errors, they rallied back with good serves and un-returnable volleys. Roberg and Debree only allowed Linfield two more points in the tiebreak, eventually winning 9-8 (7-5).
“The doubles match was definitely a difficult one for which Hadley and I had to block everything else out and just really focus on every point,” Roberg said. “It was tough not to let the results of other matches affect you, since Had and I were the last ones playing. It was a great feeling to pull that match out, and it lets me know that under any situation Hadley and I can compose ourselves and pull out any match.”
The doubles matches proved to be the decisive ones, as on the singles side Whitman and Linfield split the decisions. At the number-one spot, Roberg deftly handled her Wildcat counterpart 6-4, 6-4. Despite dropping her second set, Kaur, working at the number-four seed, kept it rolling into the third set, pulling out a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win. In the sixth spot, Kunkel-Patterson was the only other Whittie to win a singles match. After splitting her first two sets, she won the third set tiebreaker 10-8.
Struggling at the second spot, Otto fell in a heartbreaking 4-6, 4-6 loss. DeBree, playing at the third seed, dropped the first set 2-6, made it a match by taking the second 4-6, but quickly fell 6-1 in the third. Rolston fell in step at five singles, losing 3-6, 2-6.
Whitman hopes to avenge this loss next time they play Linfield on Saturday, April 3, in McMinnville, Ore. The next women’s tennis match is Saturday, March 5, against Lewis and Clark in Portland. The next home women’s tennis match will be Saturday, March 27, against George Fox University.
