BEAVERTON, Ore. – A strong start for the
George Fox University Bruins, with wins in two of the three
doubles, did not carry over into the singles as the Linfield
College Wildcats won five of six for a 6-3 victory in a Northwest
Conference women's tennis match Tuesday afternoon that was
moved here to the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center due to rain.
Molly Beaumont and Shaina Inn, who are the No. 11-ranked team in
the NCAA Division III West Region, gave the Bruins an early lead
with an 8-2 victory over the Wildcats' No. 1 pair of Caroline
Brigham and Kwynn Ecton. Alyssa Emoto and Bethany Nguyen made
it 2-0 Bruins with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles over Gretchen
Jernstedt and Lexi Thomas. The Wildcats salvaged the No. 3
doubles as Kaila Nip and Kelly Watanabe overcame Krista Rey and Ali
Diehl 8-5.
Nguyen became a two-time winner for the Bruins when she pulled
out the No. 6 singles over Jernstedt 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (13-11),
but the rest of the match belonged to the Wildcats. At No. 1,
Brigham won the first set 6-2 over Beaumont before the
Bruins' player was forced to retire due to a flare-up of her
injured shoulder. Thomas had to go to a third set to defeat
Emoto 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 2.
The remaining singles went to Linfield in straight sets.
Nip knocked off Chantelle Hadeed 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Ecton downed
Inn 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4, and Watanabe beat Alissandra Wittrig 7-5,
6-2 at No. 5.
Linfield swept the two-match season series from George Fox,
improving to 5-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference. The
Bruins slipped to 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the league.
NEXT: George Fox heads to Hawai'i for its
next three matches, starting Thursday with Chaminade University at
the Central Oahu Regional Park in Waipio at 12:00 noon Pacific time
(10:00 a.m. in Hawai'i) ... The Bruins will also meet
Hawai'i Pacific University on Saturday (time TBA) and the
College of Idaho in a neutral-site match on Monday at 12:00 noon
Pacific (10:00 a.m. Hawai'i) ... Linfield visits Lewis &
Clark College Friday at 4:00 p.m.
