With four freshmen and two sophomores among its eight entries, the Whitman women's tennis team saw its first action of the fall season as the 10th annual Cougar Classic got underway Friday at Washington State University.
Whitman, the only small college in the eight-school field, managed to pick up a few victories in the eight flights of singles play. The Missionaries added one triumph in the four flights of doubles competition.
Jennifer Schwartz, one of the Missionary first-year players, split her two matches in No. 2 singles. She lost 6-1, 6-0 in he opening round to Boise State's Helen Lawson, a junior from Aylesbury, England, but then rebounded in the next round for a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Idaho's Vida Senci, a junior from Croatia.
Monica Hilmer, a Whitman senior who missed last season while on foreign study, also managed a split in the No. 4 singles. After falling 6-0, 6-0 in her opener to Idaho's Zeljka Vidic, a senior from Croatia, Hilmer posted a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Gonzaga's Taio Miller, a junior from Clackamas, Ore.
Further down the singles ladder, Missionary freshman Hannah Swee rolled to a pair of victories in the No. 8 slot. Swee needed three sets (6-1, 1-6, 7-5) to get past the University of Montana's Megan Fisher in the first round. In her second-round match, Swee pitched a 6-0, 6-0 shutout against Emily Forth of Lewis-Clark State College.
Swee will play Washington State's Nora Gaal on Saturday for the No. 8 singles title.
Whitman's two sophomores, Paola Vizcaino and Molly Mayes, came close to scoring victories in their flights.
Vizcaino, last year's Player of the Year in the Northwest Conference, scored a 6-2 victory in her first set against Gonzaga sophomore Jamie Buterbaugh. The match slipped away, however, when Vizcaino dropped the next two sets, 6-2, 6-1. In her second-round match, Vizcaino lost 6-1, 6-0 to Montana senior Sarah Blain .
Mayes played in the No. 5 flight, losing 7-6, 6-2 to Montana's Lindsay Torgenson in the opening round. In round two, Mayes gave Lewis-Clark State's Daniella Proeschl a stiff battle. Proeschl, a sophomore from Bavaria, Germany, persevered for a 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 victory.
In No. 4 singles, Whitman senior Selima Serna lost 6-0, 6-0 to Washington State's Lorena Arias and 6-1, 7-5 to Montana's Michaela Zima.
Two more Missionary freshmen, Carissa Klarich and Katy Newhouse, competed in the No. 6 and No. 7 flights, respectively. Klarich fell 6-1, 6-1 to Gonzaga's Connie Head and 6-4, 6-0 to Montana's Christine Dickson. Newhouse lost 6-0, 6-0 to Washington State's Zofia Fodor and 6-1, 6-3 to Gonzaga's Kimberly Schultz.
In doubles, Klarich and Newhouse notched an 8-4 victory of Lewis-Clark State's Emily Forth and Megan Riedle.
Whitman's Vizcaino and Hilmer played No. 1 doubles, losing 8-0 to Boise State s Helen Lawson (England) and Renate Stoup (Holland).
In No. 2 doubles, Whitman's Serna and Schwartz dropped an 8-4 decision to Montana's Molly Sanders and Christine Dickson.
Mayes and Swee teamed formed the No. 3 doubles team for the Missionaries, falling 8-6 to Washington State's Orsolya Sallai and Zorana Roganovic.
Washington State dominated the first day of its tournament, winning all 18 of its singles and doubles matches. The tournament concludes Saturday with one round of singles play and two rounds of doubles.
Knocking heads with players from larger schools for a second straight day, the Whitman women's tennis team managed to salvage a few more victories as the 10th annual Cougar Classic ended its two-day run at Washington State University.
Playing in the No. 6 singles flight, Whitman freshman Carissa Klarich posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lewis-Clarke State's Jesan Dyer.
Sophomore Molly Mayes, competing in No. 5 singles, won her Saturday match by forfeit. Mayes lost a pair of close matches on Friday.
Missionary freshman Hannah Swee, after winning twice on Friday, played for the tourney title in No. 8 singles, losing 6-0, 6-1 to Washington State's Nora Gaal.
Katy Newhouse, also a freshman, nearly pushed her Saturday match to three sets in No. 7 singles, finally losing 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
In other singles action, Whitman's Paola Vizcaino lost 6-1, 6-4 to Montana State's Neza Kurnik in the No. 1 slot. Freshman Jennifer Schwartz, who split a pair of matches Friday in No. 2 singles, lost on Saturday to Gonzaga's Aaryn Volkman 6-1, 6-2.
Whitman senior Monica Hilmer, who split two matches Friday in No. 4 singles, lost 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to Montana State's Colleen Cohee. Selima Serna, also a Missionary senior, fell 6-2, 6-1 Saturday to Gonzaga's Leigh Orne in No. 3 singles.
Four Missionary doubles teams played two matches each on Saturday. Mayes and Swee posted the only victory, an 8-4 triumph over a team from Gonzaga.
Whitman sophomore Paola Vizcaino, last year's Northwest Conference Player of the Year, got off to a good start in Friday's opening round of the ITA Regional Tennis Tournament at the Tualatin Hills Recreation Center in Portland, Ore.
Vizcaino, the tournament's No. 6 seed in singles, advanced with a first-round bye and then rolled to a 6-1, 6-2 second-round victory over Candace Simpson of Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, Texas).
Vizcaino, the highest-seeded player from the Northwest Conference, will play Saturday morning as the singles competition continues.
Vizcaino and a second Whitman sophomore, Molly Mayes, won their first two matches Friday to advance to Saturday's doubles quarterfinals. They are the No. 8 seed in doubles.
Vizcaino and Mayes opened with an 8-1 victory over Laura Wong and Melissa Taylor of Howard Payne University (Brownwood, Texas). Next, they posted an 8-1 triumph over Rachel Clark and Megan Johnston of Hardin-Simmons.
Mayes lost her first singles match, falling 6-1, 6-4 to Jackie Mendillo of Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas) to fall into the consolation bracket. Mayes then scored a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Anna Simon of Willamette in her first consolation match Friday.
Whitman senior Selima Serna won her first singles match, notching a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Erin Heston of Howard-Payne University (Brownwood, Texas). Serna lost in the second round, however, falling 6-0, 6-4 to Christy Austin of Trinity.
Carissa Klarich, one of three Whitman freshmen in the tournament, also won her first singles match, downing Mary Bond of Hardin-Simmons 6-4, 6-3. In the second round, Klarich dropped a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 decision to Stephanie Haynes of Hardin-Simmons. The third set was played as a tie-breaker.
Missionary freshman Hannah Swee lost her first singles match in three sets to Sandra Smith of Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas). The scores were 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 10-8.
Katy Newhouse, the third Whitman freshman, fell 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round to Linda Paterson of Howard Payne. Both Swee and Newhouse, along with Mayes, will play in Saturday's consolation bracket.
Swee and Newhouse won their first doubles match Friday, beating Tara Kurtz and Sandra Smith of Southwestern by an 8-6 score. The two Missionary freshmen lost 8-5, however, in the second round to Howard Payne's Erin Heston and Mary Williams.
Serna and Klarich, Whitman's third doubles team, lost 8-5 in the first round to Stephanie Haynes and Candace Simpson of Hardin-Simmons.
Whitman sophomore Paola Vizcaino, already well known within the ranks of Northwest Conference women's tennis, opened a few more eyes outside conference in winning two more singles matches Saturday at the NCAA Div. III ITA Regional Tournament, which is being held at the Tualatin Hills Recreation Center in Beaverton, Ore.
Vizcaino's two victories Saturday came at the expense of players from Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas), a traditionally strong tennis program in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). Trinity won its 10th SCAC title last spring and advanced to the NCAA Div. III finals before losing to Williams.
Vizcaino, the NWC's Player of the Year last spring as freshman, started Saturday by knocking off Trinity's Christy Austin 6-0, 6-4. She then defeated Megan Suarez 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Vizcaino will play a semifinal match at 9 a.m. Sunday against Lindsay Smith, one of Trinity's top-ranked players. If she wins, Vizcaino will play later in the morning for the tournament title and a berth at the ITA National Championships, slated for later this month.
Vizcaino and Molly Mayes, also a sophomore, lost their first doubles match on Saturday to drop from that portion of the regional tournament. They fell 8-4 to Trinity's Smith and Suarez.
Mayes and freshman Hannah Swee stayed alive Saturday in the consolation singles bracket.
In her first singles match of the day, Mayes scored an upset victory over Bobbye Thompson, a highly ranked player from Hardin-Simmons. After losing the first set 6-1, Mayes bounced to back to 6-4 and 10-6. In her next match, the Whitman sophmore scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory over a player (name not available) from Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas).
Swee downed Southwestern's Robin Schwartz 6-4, 6-3 in another consolation round match Saturday. Both Swee and Mayes will play consolation semifinal matches on Sunday morning.
Paola Vizcaino's run through the championship singles bracket of the ITA Regional Tournament came to a halt Sunday morning when the Whitman sophomore lost a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Lindsay Smith of Trinity University.
Smith, a junior, is a returning NCAA Div. III All-American for the Tigers, who came within one victory last spring of winning a national championship. After downing Vizcaino Sunday, Smith dropped a 6-0, 6-3 decision in the tournament title match to one of her Trinity teammates, senior Lizzie Yasser. A two-time All-American, Yasser was named Player of the Year in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in each of the past two seasons.
In other action Sunday at the Tualatin Hills Recreation Center in Beaverton, Ore., Whitman's Molly Mayes and Hannah Swee lost semifinal matches in the consolation singles bracket. Mayes, a sophomore, fell 6-1, 6-3 to Linfield senior Laura Worzniak. Swee, a freshman, lost 6-4, 6-3 to a player (name not available) from Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas).
Sunday's doubles championship match also was an all-Trinity affair. Smith teamed Megan Suarez for a 9-7 victory over Yasser and Abbe Ulrich.
The Whitman women's tennis team opened its dual match season with a 6-3 Northwest Conference victory over Whitworth Saturday in the Bratton Tennis Center.
Paola Vizcaino, last year's NWC Player of the Year as a Whitman freshman, rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 victory in No. 1 singles. She also teamed with sophomore Molly Mayes for an 8-4 win in No. 1 doubles. Mayes didn't lose a game in winning her No. 5 singles match.
Other winners in singles for Whitman included senior Monica Hilmer, who missed her junior season while on foreign study, at No. 3 and freshman Hannah Swee, a three-set winner at No. 6.
Freshman Carissa Klarich and senior Selima Serna gave Whitman an 8-2 victory in No. 3 doubles.
Jennifer Schwartz, another Missionary first-year player, won her first set in No. 2 singles and bolted to a 5-1 lead in the second set. But Whitworth junior Jill Vaughan rallied to take the match in three sets.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Jill Huibregtse: 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Huibregstse/Vaughan: 8-4Lewis-Clark State, an NAIA national powerhouse, rolled to an 8-1 victory over the Whitman women's tennis team Sunday at the Bratton Tennis Center.
Ranked No. 18 in the early NAIA rankings, LCSC raised its dual match record to 2-1. Whitman is 1-1 to start the season.
Sophomore Molly Mayes tallied Whitman's only team point with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jennifer Wright in No. 4 singles. Wright, a senior from Idaho Falls, was the only American athlete playing for LCSC.
Aibika Kalsarieva, a freshman from Kyrgyzstan, shut out Whitman's Paola Vizcaino 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles match. Kalsarieva is ranked No. 4 nationally in the NAIA in singles. Vizcaino, a sophomore from Metepec, Mexico, was last year's Northwest Conference Player of the Year.
Others notching victories in singles for LCSC were Pei Yuin Keng, a sophomore from Miri, Malaysia; Sanet Nel, a senior from Aberdeen, South Africa; Jinnie Shrestha, a junior from Kathmandu, Nepal; and Daniela Poeschl, a sophomore from Bavaria, Germany.
Playing No. 6 singles, Poeschl needed three sets to get past Whitman's Carissa Klarich, a first-year player from Billings, Mont. Klarich was one of three freshmen playing for the Missionaries.
Singles
No. 1 -- Aibika Kalsarieva (LCSC) def. Paola Vizcaino: 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- Keng/Kalsarieva (LCSC) def. Vizcaino/Mayes: 8-1The Whitman women's tennis team raised its early season Northwest Conference record to 2-0 with an 8-1 triumph over Puget Sound Friday evening in the Bratton Tennis Center.
The Missionaries swept the three doubles points and then picked off all but one of the singles matches. The Loggers, who dropped to 0-2 in NWC matches, scored their only team point at No. 5 singles when senior Laura Brock rallied for a three-set victory over Hannah Swee, a Whitman freshman. Swee took the first set 6-0 and was leading 3-0 in the second set when muscle cramps helped knock her off stride.
One of the best matches of the evening came at No. 2 singles, where Missionary freshmen Jennifer Schwartz won in three close sets over Puget Sound sophomore Annie James.
Whitman, 2-1 overall, hosts Pacific Lutheran at 11 a.m. Saturday, while Puget Sound travels to Spokane to play Whitworth.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Jade-Lin Wong: 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. James/Mathieu: 8-2
The Whitman women's tennis team elevated its Northwest Conference record to 3-0 with an 9-0 shutout of defending champion Pacific Lutheran Saturday afternoon in the Bratton Tennis Center.
The Missionaries swept the three doubles points and then won all the singles matches. Whitman's line-up in singles featured two sophomores and three freshmen.
The tone for the afternoon was set in the No. 3 doubles match when Carissa Klarich and Christina Jesaitis rallied from a 4-0 deficit, running off eight straight games to win 8-4.
Whitman, now 3-1 on the season, travel to Hawaii during spring break for matches against BYU-Hawaii, University of Hawaii-Hilo, Chaminade University, and University of Hawaii.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Heidi Ruud: 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 -- Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Ruud/Hively: 8-2
The women's tennis team at Brigham Young University-Hawaii has lost precious few matches in recent years, and there was no change in the pattern Monday afternoon when the Seasiders hosted Whitman in Laie, Hawaii.
BYU-Hawaii, ranked No. 2 nationally in NCAA Div. II, upped its record to 8-0 with a 9-0 victory over the Division III Missionaries.
The Seasiders have now won a mind-boggling 111 of their last 112 matches. BYU-Hawaii was a two-time defending national champion when its 103-match win streak was snapped by Lynn University (Boca Raton, Florida) in last spring's national title match.
Whitman, in Hawaii for a series of four matches during Spring Break, saw its season record fall to 3-2. The Missionaries are 3-0 against their Northwest Conference opponents.
In Monday's match, BYU-Hawaii got victories in No. 1 and No. 2 singles from two players from Budapest, Hungary, senior Petra Gaspar and freshman Adrienn Hegedus.
Tagifano So'onalole-Taosoga, a senior from Alamagoto, WesternSamoa, was BYU-Hawaii's winner at No. 3 singles.
Two players from Chiba, Japan, and one from Beijing, China, rounded out BYU-Hawaii's international line-up.
Singles
No. 1 - Petra Gaspar (BYU-H) def. Paola Vizcaino: 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 - Gaspar/So'onalole-Taosoga (BYU-H) def. Vizcaino/Mayes: 8-0
Playing at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park on the island of Oahu, the University of Hawaii-Hilo women's tennis team pinned a 9-0 defeat on Whitman Wednesday.
Ranked No. 23 nationally in NCAA Div. II, the Vulcans didn't lose a set to the Div. III Missionaries. It was the second of four matches the Whitman women are playing as part of Spring Break trip through Hawaii.
Winners in singles for Vulcans included Nathalia Jung of Porto Alegre, Brazil; Michiko Tanaka of Osaka, Japan; Fiorella Poblete of Lima, Peru; and Lara Hornbuckle of Durban, South Africa.
Whitman's Selima Serna battled Hawaii-Hilo's Stacy Kneese, a sophomore from Colorado, through a tough first set before losing 7-5.
The Missionary women play at Chaminade University on Thursday before ending their trip Friday at the University of Hawaii.
Singles
No. 1 - Nathalia Jung (Hawaii-Hilo) def. Paola Vizcaino: 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Jung/Kneese (Hawaii-Hilo) def. Vizcaino/Mayes: 8-1
The Whitman women's tennis team elevated its season record to 4-3 with a 9-0 drubbing of NCAA Div. II Chaminade University Thursday in Honolulu.
The Missionaries scored 8-0 shutouts in two of three doubles matches. The exception was at No. 2 doubles, where senior Monica Hilmer and freshman Hannah Swee had to work for an 8-6 victory.
Paola Vizcaino, Jennifer Schwartz and Hilmer were straight-set winners in the top three singles matches. Molly Mayes, Selima Serna and Swee stormed through the bottom three singles matches, losing just one game between them.
Now 1-2 on their Spring Break tour of Hawaii, the Whitman women finish on Friday with a match at the University of Hawaii, an NCAA Div. I school.
Singles
No. 1 - Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Kelly Yamasaki: 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Kelly Yamasaki/Parkinson: 8-0
The Whitman women's tennis team was no match for NCAA Div. I Hawaii on Friday, falling 9-0 to the Rainbow Wahine in Honolulu.
The host squad stormed to victory in the top three singles matches without losing a game.
The match was the last of four Whitman has played in Hawaii during the past week. As was the case in earlier matches against NCAA Div. II opponents, the Missionaries ran into some international competition. Playing at No. 3 singles, Whitman's Monica Hilmer faced Polina Kravets, a junior from Fergana, Uzbekistan.
Whitman next plays on March 30-31 with matches at Whitworth and Lewis-Clark State.
Singles
No. 1 - Lauren Fitzgerald (Hawaii) def. Paola Vizcaino: 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 - Fitzgerald/Hakikawa (Hawaii) def. Vizcaino/Mayes: 8-4
Downing Whitworth for the second time this season, the Whitman women's tennis team cruised to a 7-2 victory Saturday in Spokane.
The match, Whitman's first in more than two weeks, does not count in the Northwest Conference standings. Only one meeting between two NWC schools "counts" toward the standings, to be used for seeding purposes in the conference championship tournament.
The Missionaries are now 5-4 on the season, 3-0 in NWC matches.
Whitman took Saturday's match by winning five of six encounters in singles and two of three in doubles.
Sunday's scheduled match at Lewis-Clark State has been postponed. The two teams are attempting to reschedule.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Jill Huibregtse: 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Huibregstse/Vaughan: 8-6
The Whitman women's tennis team took a big step toward nailing down the No. 1 seed into the Northwest Conference championships by stopping Linfield 5-4 Saturday afternoon on the Missionary outdoor courts.
Whitman improved to 4-0 in NWC seeding matches and to 5-4 on the season. The Wildcats dropped to 5-1 in seeding matches and to 8-4 overall.
After Linfield won two of three matches in doubles, Whitman responded with victories in four of the six singles matches. Missionary sophomore Paola Vizcaino, who has yet to lose to a NWC opponents in her two seasons, was a 6-2, 6-2 winner in No. 1 singles. Molly Mayes, also a sophomore, bounced back from a first-set loss to win in three sets at No. 4 singles. Vizcaino and Mayes also combined forces for an 8-5 victory in No. 1 doubles.
Also winning in singles for Whitman were senior Monica Hilmer at No. 3 and freshman Hannah Swee at No. 6.
Whitman plays its final home match at 10 a.m. Sunday against Willamette. The Missionaries then conclude their regular season next weekend with three matches in the Portland area.
The NWC championships are set for April 19-20 in Yakima.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Nicole Ralston: 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -- Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Ralston/Paladeni: 8-5
The Whitman women's tennis team remained undefeated against Northwest Conference opponents with an 8-1 victory over Willamette Sunday on the Missionary outdoor courts.
The Missionaries improved to 5-0 in NWC seeding matches and to 7-4 on the season.
Whitman swept all six of the singles matches, although freshman Hannah Swee needed a third set (played as a 10-point tie-breaker) to finish off her victory at No. 6.
Willamette claimed its only point with a victory in No. 3 doubles.
Singles
No. 1 - Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Jessica Bruck: 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Vizcaino/Mayes (Whitman) def. Groves/Sorensen: 8-0
The Whitman women's tennis team moved a step closer to nailing down the No. 1 seed into next week's Northwest Conference championship tournament by subduing Lewis & Clark 6-3 Friday afternoon in Portland, Ore.
The victory gives the Missionaries a 6-0 record in NWC seeding matches and an 8-4 mark overall. The host Pioneers dropped to 4-3 in seeding matches.
Whitman closes out its NWC regular season with matches Saturday at George Fox and Pacific. Two more wins will send the Missionaries to the NWC tournament as the No. 1 seed.
While Whitman was winning the match, Lewis & Clark senior Sara Schipani rallied to defeat Missionary sophomore Paola Vizcaino in three sets in No. 1 singles. It was the first time Vizcaino has lost to a NWC opponent in singles play.
Vizcaino, last year's NWC Player of the Year, won the first set 6-2. Schipani, who did not play last season but won Player of the Year honors two years ago, bounced back to take each of the next two sets by 6-4 scores.
Schipani is now 12-0 in singles play this season.
Whitman won four of the remaining five singles matches. Winning in straight sets for the Missionaries were Jennifer Schwartz at No. 2, Monica Hilmer at No. 3, Molly Mayes at No. 4, and Hannah Swee at No. 5.
Schipani and Laura Willner teamed to win the No. 1 doubles match, beating Vizcaino and Mayes. Hilmer and Swee posted a victory for Whitman at No. 2 doubles, as did Christina Jesaitis and Carissa Klarich at No. 3.
Singles
No. 1 - Sara Schipani (LC) def. Paola Vizcaino: 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 - Schipani/Willner (LC) def. Vizcaino/Mayes: 8-3
Playing the first of two Saturday matches, the Whitman women's tennis team knocked off Pacific 8-1 in Forest Grove, Ore. Pacific had only five players available, which forced the Boxers to forfeit the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles matches.
Pacific scored its only point at No. 1 singles. Freshman Jenny Schwartz, filling the top spot for Whitman in place of Paola Vizcaino, lost an abbreviated third set to Pacific's Fern Koga.
Winners in singles for Whitman were senior Monica Hilmer, junior Christina Jesaitis, sophomore Molly Mayes and freshman Katy Newhourse. Two more Missionary freshmen, Carissa Klarich and Hannah Swee, joined with Mayes and Hilmer to post victories in doubles.
Singles
No. 1 - Fern Koga (Pacific) def. Jenny Schwartz: 6-3, 5-7, 10-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Mayes/Carissa Klarich (Whitman) def. Koga/Tokuda: 8-2
The Whitman women's tennis team wrapped up its regular season with an 8-1 Northwest Conference victory over short-handed George Fox Saturday afternoon at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Club in Beaverton, Ore.
The Missionaries ended their season with records of 8-0 in NWC seeding matches and 10-4 overall. Whitman will be seeded No. 1 in the conference championship tournament, slated for next Friday and Saturday in Yakima, Wash.
The victory over George Fox was Whitman's second triumph Saturday. Earlier in the day, the Missionaries rolled to an 8-1 victory over Pacific in Forest Grove, Ore.
Because of injuries suffered by players during a van accident earlier in the season, George Fox had only five players available on Saturday. That forced the Bruins to forfeit the No. 3 doubles match and No. 6 singles match.
Whitman responded by resting a number of key players, including its top two singles players, Paola Vizcaino and Jennifer Schwartz.
Senior Monica Hilmer moved up to No. 1 singles and won in straight sets, as did sophomore Molly Mayes at No. 2. Other winners in singles for Whitman were first-year players Jenny Spears and Jenny Spears.
Singles
No. 1 - Monica Hilmer (Whitman) def. Lisa Trefts: 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Mayes/Carissa Klarich (Whitman) def. Selid/Robinson: 8-5
There were no surprises Friday morning as the top-seeded Whitman women's tennis team opened the Northwest Conference championships with a convincing 8-1 first-round victory over Willamette.
The match, which duplicated Whitman's 8-1 victory over the Bearcats during the regular season, was played at West Valley High School in Yakima, Wash. The win sends the Missionaries into a 2 p.m. semifinal match today against Puget Sound. That match will take place at the Yakima Tennis Club, which is serving as the tournament headquarters.
Whitman swept the three doubles matches from Willamette and won five of six matches in singles play. Willamette's only victory came at No. 2 singles, where senior Kathryn Sorensen won a third-set tie-breaker to edge Missionary freshman Jennifer Schwartz.
Senior Monica Hilmer and sophomore Molly Mayes won singles matches at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, to remain undefeated on the season against NWC opponents. Both players improved their NWC singles record to 10-0.
Paola Vizcaino, a sophomore, won the No. 1 singles matches for the Missionaries, while senior Selima Serna and freshman Hannah Swee were winners at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. Vizcaino is now 7-1 this season against NWC opponents.
Mayes teamed with freshman Carissa Klarich to win the No. 1 doubles match. Vizcaino and Serna steamed their way to an 8-0 triumph in No. 2 doubles, while Hilmer and Swee were victors in the No. 3 match. As doubles partners, Hilmer and Swee are now 8-2 this spring in conference matches.
In Friday's other first-round matches, No. 2 Linfield defeated No. 7 George Fox 9-0, No. 4 Puget Sound edged No. 5 Lewis & Clark 5-4, and No. 3 Whitworth blitzed No. 6 Pacific Lutheran 8-1.
Singles
No. 1 - Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Lori Bokovoy: 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 - Carissa Klarich/Mayes (Whitman) def. Bokovoy/Bruck: 8-5
The Whitman women's tennis team slipped past Puget Sound with relative ease Friday afternoon, scoring a 7-2 victory in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference championships, to advance to Saturday's title match at the Yakima (Wash.) Tennis Club.
The Missionaries, seeking their first NWC title since sharing the crown in 1997 with Whitworth, will face Linfield at noon Saturday. Linfield rolled over Whitworth 8-1 in Friday's other semifinal match.
Whitman edged Linfield 5-4 in their only regular season meeting.
The Missionaries, seeded No. 1 in the tournament, dispatched Puget Sound Friday by winning two of three doubles matches and five of six matches in singles.
Winning in singles, as they did in Whitman's opening round victory earlier on Friday, were Paola Vizcaino, Monica Hilmer, Molly Mayes, Selima Serna and Hannah Swee. Hilmer and Mayes remained undefeated in NWC singles play for the season, running their records to 11-0. Vizcaino upped her season record to 8-1.
Vizcaino and Serna joined forces to win the No. 2 doubles match. Hilmer and Swee took the No. 3 doubles match, raising their season mark to 9-2 against NWC opponents.
In Friday's consolation round matches, Pacific Lutheran beat George Fox 6-3, while Lewis & Clark blitzed Willamette 9-0.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Jade-Lin Wong: 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 -- James/Mathieu (UPS) def. Carissa Klarich/Mayes: 9-8 (7-2)
The difference between winning and losing was ever so thin as Linfield slipped past Whitman 5-4 to claim the Northwest Conference women's tennis championship Saturday afternoon in Yakima, Wash.
The two teams split the six singles matches, and each team picked off a convincing 8-3 victory in the doubles play. As it turned out, the margin of victory was Linfield's hard-fought 9-8 victory in the No. 2 doubles match. The Wildcat duo of Laura Worzniak and Katie Leitheiser won its deciding ninth game in that match on a 7-5 tie-breaker.
Worzniak and Leitheiser jumped to a 5-1 lead in the match, but Whitman's Paola Vizcaino and Molly Mayes rallied to win the next five games for a 6-5 advantage. With their lead at 7-6, the Missionaries let a match point slip away when a volley landed an inch beyond the end line. The Whitman twosome regained the advantage only to see another match point disappear on a missed volley.
After the two teams deadlocked at eight games apiece, Worzniak and Leitheiser raced away to a 5-1 lead in the tie-breaker. Vizcaino and Mayes rallied again, knotting the score at 5-5, before the Wildcat duo won two straight points and the match.
Linfield's title match triumph avenged a 5-4 loss to Whitman during the regular season.
While the Missionaries came up just short in their pursuit of the team title, Mayes and Monica Hilmer completed undefeated seasons in NWC singles action. Hilmer, a senior who missed her junior season while on foreign study, won at No. 3 singles. Mayes, a sophomore, was a three-set winner at No. 4. Both Hilmer and Mayes ended with 12-0 records in singles against conference opponents.
Playing at No. 1 singles, Paola Vizcaino notched Whitman's other singles victory Saturday. Vizcaino, who ran her season singles record against NWC foes to 9-1, was named NWC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Vizcaino suffered her only conference loss during the last weekend of the regular season when she suffered ankle and toe injuries during a three-set setback at Lewis & Clark. She was unable to practice the week prior to the NWC championship tournament. In her two seasons at Whitman, Vizcaino is now 21-1 against conference opponents.
Whitman's only doubles victory Saturday came in the No. 3 match, where Hilmer and freshman Hannah Swee were 8-3 winners. As doubles partners, Hilmer and Swee finished with a 10-2 record in NWC play.
In addition to being named Player of the Year in a vote by coaches, Vizcaino was one of eight players named First Team All-NWC.
Heidi Tate, Whitman's second-year coach, also earned NWC Coach of the Year honors. With Tate at the helm, the Missionary women's team rolled to 8-0 record in NWC seeding matches to earn the No. 1 in the championship tournament. Whitman ended its dual match season with a 12-5 record.
Singles
No. 1 -- Paola Vizcaino (Whitman) def. Nicole Ralston: 6-0, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Ralston/Paladeni (Linfield) def. Mayes/Carissa Klarich: 8-3