Saturday morning, the Whitman Women’s Tennis team took to the courts against Pacific University. By the afternoon, the men’s team took over and completed a hugely successful day for the tennis program as a whole. Together, the men and women swept Pacific’s team 18-0.
The women’s team, ranked 16th nationally, won each of their nine individual matches to improve to 12-3 on the season and remain undefeated in conference.
The day got off to an impressive start with each doubles team winning handily. First-years Kate Rubinstein and Katrina Allick took down their opponents 8-1 before senior Alyssa Roberg and sophomore Courtney Lawless followed with an 8-2 victory. Sophomores Morgan Lawless and Maddy Webster rounded out the doubles stage with an 8-4 win.
The team carried the momentum from its doubles victories into dominant singles play. Even after the team’s victory had been clinched, first-year Jenna Dobrin fought back from a tough first set to complete the sweep. After losing 4-6, Dobrin overcame her opponent 6-2 and 10-5.
The men’ team, ranked 15th in the nation, continued their conference dominance by rolling to a 9-0 team victory highlighted by dominant individual performances top to bottom.
The doubles stage of competition was showed the program’s depth and development, with wins by pairs of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Seniors Matt Tesmond and Sam Sadeghi overcame a rough start to win 8-6 against Pacific’s top doubles team. Juniors Any Riggs and Steven Roston followed suit with an 8-1 win against Pacific’s number two team. Sophomores Colton Malesovas and James Rivers made quick work of the number three doubles with an 8-2 victory.
Whitman’s men then went on to win all six singles matches including 6-2,6-3 and 6-1, 6-1 victories from Will Huskey and Alex Noyes, respectively. Huskey and Noyes were dominant in the number five and six games, finishing up a strong the day.
Next weekend both teams will look to maintain their success in conference by taking on the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University.
[portfolio_slideshow]