SPOKANE, Wash. – With two of their top three players sidelined for medical reasons, the short-handed George Fox University Bruins battled gamely but were swept by two of the NCAA Division III West Region's ranked teams, Whitman College and Whitworth University, by 9-0 scores on their eastern Washington swing this weekend.

The Bruins were without Chantelle Hadeed and Taylor Barnes, who have shared duties at the Nos. 2 and 3 singles this season and have played on the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams respectively.  Moving their Nos. 4-6 players up, the Bruins gave extensive playing time to freshmen Shelby Arnold and Ilsa Teppo at the 5 and 6 slots, but it was a tough weekend to break in the newcomers, as Whitman is ranked 23rd nationally and 5th in the region and Whitworth is 11th in the West. 

George Fox saw its record dip to 6-10 overall and 2-7 in the Northwest Conference at the hands to the league's top two teams.  Whitworth is 10-3 overall and 8-0 in the NWC, while Whitman is 7-8 overall and 7-0 in the conference.

Against Whitman on Friday at the Bratton Tennis Center in Walla Walla, Wash., the Bruins were swept in straight sets in all nine matches.  The closest doubles was at No. 2, where Megan Dahlberg and Ali Diehl dropped an 8-4 decision to the Missionaries' Jenna Dobrin and Hannah Palkowitz.  In singles, Teppo gave Whitman's Maggie Eismeier the tightest test of the match at No. 6, falling by a 6-3, 7-5 score.

In Saturday's match against Whitworth at the Scotford Tennis Center, Diehl pushed the Pirates' Annabelle Burns to a third set at No. 4 singles, winning the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) before dropping the second set 6-3.  In the tiebreaker, Burns prevailed 10-4.  The closest doubles was at No. 2, with Diehl and Dahlberg falling 8-4 to Bella Hoyos and Morgan McDivitt.

NEXT: George Fox plays again Friday with a 3:30 p.m. match at Willamette University in Salem, Ore.