WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Whitman College tennis teams will take No. 1 and No. 4 seeds into the Northwest Conference Championships Friday and Saturday at the Yakima (Wash.) Tennis Club.
The men’s squad, after rolling through its second consecutive undefeated NWC regular season, gets a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in the men’s bracket. Veteran coach Jeff Northam and his 20-man roster ran the table in the NWC, going 16-0 as part of a 20-9 record that has Whitman ranked No. 19 nationally in NCAA Div. III.
With a roster of just seven players, the women’s team under first-year coach Hannah Swee finished the regular season with records of 10-6 in the NWC and 12-11 overall. Three of Whitman's conference losses came by just one team point. The Missionaries are No. 10 in the most recent west region rankings.
While all nine NWC schools compete in tennis, only the top six men’s teams and top six women’s teams advance from the regular season to the championship tournament. The top two teams on each side get first-round byes.
In Friday’s first round, the Whitman women face fifth-seeded Willamette (8-11, 8-8 NWC) in a match that starts at 8 a.m. Whitman beat the Bearcats twice during the regular season, by scores of 8-1 and 6-3. A third victory will advance Whitman into a 12:30 p.m. semifinal showdown against No. 1 Linfield (16-5, 16-0 NWC). In matches earlier this season, Linfield bested Whitman by scores of 5-4 and 7-2.
In the other women’s first-round match, which also starts at 8 a.m. Friday, No. 3 Lewis & Clark (11-7, 11-5 NWC) faces No. 6 Pacific Lutheran (9-10, 7-9 NWC). The winner plays No. 2 Whitworth (16-4, 14-2 NWC) at 12:30 p.m.
With its first-round bye, the Whitman men’s team advances directly into one of Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinals. Whitman awaits the winner of an 8 a.m. opening round battle between No. 4 Whitworth (13-10, 10-6 NWC) and No. 5 Willamette (8-9, 8-8 NWC).
Whitman had little difficulty with either Whitworth or Willamette during the regular season. It twice blanked Willamette 9-0 and beat Whitworth by scores of 9-0 and 7-2.
The other first-round match in the men’s bracket, set for noon, sends No. 3 Linfield (11-8, 11-5 NWC) against No. 6 Puget Sound (7-9, 7-9 NWC). The winner advances to face No. 2 Pacific Lutheran (14-10, 14-2 NWC) in the other 3:30 p.m. semifinal.
The women's teams that lose Friday’s opening round matches will play at 3:30 p.m. for fifth place.
The tournament resumes at 8 a.m. Saturday with the women’s match for the third/fourth place, and the men's matches for third/fourth and fifth/sixth places. The men’s and women’s championship matches are both slated for noon on Saturday.
Relatively young yet very talented, Whitman split its 20-man roster in two at various times during the season to play multiple matches on the same day -- sometimes in different cities.
Sophomores Matt Solomon, Jake Cappel and Dan Wilson, along with junior Dan Solomon and freshman Chris Bailey, have played at the top of Whitman's singles ladder. The Solomon brothers have also played as Whitman's top doubles team, while Cappel has teamed with sophomore Nadeem Kassam at No. 2 doubles. Junior Justin Hayashi and sophomore Jasper Follows have been strong at No. 3 doubles.
Matt Solomon, who plays No. 1 singles, is a two-time NWC Player of the Week this season. He has a No. 5 singles ranking in the west region, while Dan Solomon has played most of his matches at No. 2 singles and is ranked No. 15.
Bailey, who has played the bulk of his matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, led the NWC in total victories this spring with 16. His 16-7 record includes an 11-0 mark against conference opponents.
Wilson, playing primarily in the third, fourth and fifth spots, also posted an undefeated NWC singles record at 9-0. Cappel, who earned Player of the Week honors in late March, won 14 decisions in singles this spring, which includes a 9-1 record against NWC opponents in the first four slots.
Veteran coach Jeff Northam has any number of good options to round out his singles line-up on any given day. Other players with undefeated NWC records include senior Robert Rye (8-0), Dan Solomon (7-0), and Follows (6-0). Sophomore David Deming was 9-1 in singles against NWC foes.
In doubles, the Solomon brothers were 13-6 (6-2 in the NWC) in the No. 1 spot. Playing mostly at No. 2, Cappel and Kassam were 6-1 in conference. Bouncing between No. 2 and No. 3, Hayashi and Follows were 12-4 in doubles (7-0 in the NWC).
After winning the NWC championship in April, 2004, the Whitman men's team has placed second at the conference tournament in each of the past three seasons.
Elise Otto has made a definite impact for Whitman in her first college season, posting a 13-3 record against conference opponents at No. 1 singles. Otto has twice won NWC Player of the Week honors this spring, and is No. 13 in the most recently regional singles rankings. She and junior Margo Lentz have also been a formidable tandem at No. 1 doubles, rolling to a 12-4 record in NWC play.
Hadley DeBree, a Whitman sophomore, is 12-4 at No. 2 singles, while sophomore Divneet Kaur has the same record while bouncing between the No. 3 and No. 4 slots. Playing at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, junior Katie Oost is 16-6 on the season, which includes a 13-2 mark in conference.
Oost and Kaur, as an end-of-the-season doubles combo, are 6-0 against NWC opponents.
Whitman's last NWC women's title came in 1997, when the championship tournament used a flighted format. The Missionaries shared the championship with Whitworth that season.