BEAVERTON, Ore. – While the anticipated rain outdoors never materialized, the visiting Whitworth University Pirates ducked inside and doused the George Fox University Bruins' three-game winning streak with an 8-1 victory in Northwest Conference women's tennis action Friday evening here at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center. 

“Whitworth was in the conference tournament last year and will challenge for the top four again this year,” noted George Fox head coach Rick Cruz, “so we knew it would be a tough match.  But we gave them some competitive matches and I was pleased with our effort.”

At No. 3 doubles, the Bruins' Megan Dahlberg and Ali Diehl remained perfect on the season and improved to 4-0 with an 8-3 win over the Pirates' Hannah Wallin and Caylee Lamm.  At No. 1, Whitworth's Saryn Mooney and Taylor Pena, who are ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III West Region, topped Alyssa Emoto and Chantelle Hadeed 8-2, while Bella Hoyos and Morgan McDivitt downed Taylor Barnes and Krista Rey 8-4 at No. 2, giving the Pirates a 2-1 edge heading into the singles.

The last six matches all belonged to the Pirates, however.  Mooney, ranked sixth in the West, stopped Emoto 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1; Pena, 23rd in the West, handed Hadeed a 6-4, 6-0 setback at No. 2; Hoyos beat Barnes 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3; McDivitt defeated Rey 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4; and Anabelle Burns beat Dahlberg 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5.  The most competitive singles match was at No. 6, where Diehl hung in against Lamm before falling 6-2, 6-3.

NEXT: George Fox (3-1, NWC 2-1) hosts Whitman College Saturday at 12:00 noon, again at Tualatin Hills due to a 50 percent chance of rain.  Whitman is the defending NWC champion and a favorite to win the league again this season … Whitworth (3-1, NWC 3-0), ranked 14th in the West Region, plays two conference matches Saturday, at Lewis & Clark College at 10:00 a.m. and at Pacific University at 3:30 p.m.