Willamette Looks to Finish Strong Down the Stretch

By Evan Giddings, Student Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- With two weeks left in the 2014-15 season, the Willamette University women's tennis team will host nationally-ranked Whitman College on Saturday, April 11, before traveling to Forest Grove, Oregon, on Sunday, April 12 to take on Pacific University. The match against Whitman will start at 3 p.m. (PDT), while the match at Pacific will get underway at 1 p.m.

Willamette's home match will be at the WU Tennis Courts if the weather is good. If it rains, the match will move indoors at the Courthouse Tennis Center at 1379 Madison Street NE in Salem, Oregon.

Entering the weekend, the Bearcats hold a 2-13 overall record and a 1-7 Northwest Conference record. The Bearcats registered their first conference win of the season last weekend by toppling University of Puget Sound, 6-3.

In the match against UPS, Willamette recorded victories at the top four singles positions and earned two wins in doubles play. In singles, Denise Poltavski (Sr., Woodland Hills, CA/El Camino Real HS) won #1 singles, 6-0, 6-2, versus Elizabeth Chao, and was rewarded for her efforts by being named NWC Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Week.

Also earning victories in singles for Willamette were Mikaila Smith (Fr., Mill Valley, CA/Tamalpais HS) at #2, Ellen Rumley (Fr., Anchorage, AK/East Anchorage HS) at #3 and Emily Guimont (Jr., El Dorado Hills, CA/Folsom HS) at #4.

At #1 doubles, Poltavski and Smith triumphed easily 8-1 over Chao and Tresa Bild. The Bearcats also took #3 doubles with the team of Katie Adams (Fr., McLean, VA/American International School) and Ashley Evans (Fr., Canby, OR/Canby HS) Evans winning 8-2 over Claire Fitzgerald and Tamara Runnicles.

Willamette's first opponent this weekend is Whitman, which is first in the NWC at 8-0. The Missionaries are 11-5 overall and ar ranked #23 in the NCAA Division III national rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Whitman is listed at #4 in the West Region rankings.

In their last match, the Missionaries edged out Lewis & Clark College, 5-4. The singles lineup for Whitman consisted of Courtney Lawless (Sr.), Jenna Dobrin (Jr.), Morgan Lawless (Sr.), Allie Wallin (So.), Erin Bell (So.), and Lindsey Brodeck (Fr.).

Whitman's doubles tandems saw Courtney Lawless and Morgan Lawless play #1, Bell and Katrina Allick (Jr.) at #2, and Madison Webster (Sr.) and Hanna Grennberg (Fr.) at #3.

On Sunday, WU will take on Pacific, which is 5-8 overall with a 2-7 conference record. The Boxers recently fell to Whitworth University, 7-2, on April 4. Pacific will host Whitman on Saturday before the Missionaries play at Willamette.

During the match versus Whitworth, the Boxers' singles lineup slotted Jelena Vidovic (Fr.) at #1, Sidney Smith (Fr.) at #2, Mai Kobayashi (Fr.) at #3, Kanani Kea (Fr.) at #4, Kelly Flores (So.) at #5, and Danielle Wicks (Jr.) at #6.

Pacific's doubles competition teamed up Vidovic and Kobayashi at #1, Smith and Kea at #2, and Flores and Wicks at #3.