NEWBERG, Ore. – Playing two women's tennis matches in one day for the first time this season, the George Fox University Bruins gained a split as they fell in Northwest Conference action to the Whitman College Missionaries 9-0 before sweeping a non-conference contest from the College of Idaho Lady Coyotes 9-0 Saturday here at the GFU campus courts.

With their loss to Whitman, George Fox fell to 2-4 in conference play.  The Missionaries, who are ranked No. 27 in the NCAA Division III and No. 6 in the West Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the NWC.  The Bruins' victory later in the day over the College of Idaho, an NAIA team and member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, raised their overall record to 3-5, while the Lady 'Yotes fell to 0-2.

Match 1 - Whitman 9, George Fox 0

With three singles players and two doubles tandems regionally ranked, Whitman proved to be too tough for George Fox, although the Bruins gave the Missionaries what coach Rick Cruz called “a solid effort against an outstanding team”.

In a meeting of ranked doubles teams, Whitman's Courtney Lawless and Alyssa Roberg, No. 1 in the West Region of the NCAA Division III, bested George Fox's Molly Beaumont and Shaina Inn, who are No. 11 in the West, 8-3 at No. 1.  The next two doubles were both 8-2 wins for the Missionaries as Madison Webster and Morgan Lawless defeated Alyssa Emoto and Krista Rey at No. 2, and Jenna Dobrin and Katrina Allick downed Chantelle Hadeed and Ali Diehl at No. 3.

Whitman took all of the singles matches in straight sets, with Courtney Lawless over Beaumont 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1; Roberg over Emoto 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2; Morgan Lawless over Hadeed 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3; Dobrin over Rey 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4; Kate Rubinstein over Alissandra Wittrig 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5; and Kate Kunkel-Patterson over Aleassa Wren 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.

Match 2 - George Fox 9, College of Idaho 0

In a late afternoon/early evening match, the Bruins got back on the winning track against the Lady 'Yotes from Caldwell, Idaho, losing only one set. 

In doubles, Beaumont and Inn took an 8-1 match from Hayley Hutchings and Shae Stults at No. 1; Emoto and Rey topped Tanya Greenwood and Emily Tesnohlidek 8-1 at No. 2; and Diehl and Wittrig blanked Emilee Chapman and Rachel Webster 8-0 at No. 3.

In singles, it was Beaumont over Stults 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1; Emoto over Hutchings 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2; Inn over Tesnohlidek 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) at No. 3; Hadeed over Greenwood 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4; Bethany Nguyen over Chapman 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5; and Megan Dahlberg, in her first action of the season, over Webster 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6.

NEXT: George Fox returns to conference play Sunday, visiting Lewis & Clark College in Portland for a 12:30 p.m. match ... Whitman played later Saturday at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. ... The College of Idaho goes to Pacific Sunday at 10:00 a.m.