NEWBERG, Ore. --- The George Fox women's tennis team suffered its first defeat in a challenging battle against the Whitworth Pirates on Saturday, Apr. 3, in a 5-4 decision.

Sophia Lawrence and Laney Search earned a win in doubles play, 8-7 (7), and Search also picked up a hard-fought singles win at the no. 2 spot in the order, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Danielle Brown won her no. 3 singles matchup 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, and Taylor Morris claimed the Bruins' fourth point of the day at no. 5 singles, 7-5, 6-1.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way we fought today," said coach Rick Cruz afterward. "Sophia and Laney pulled out a great win at one doubles to give us a chance going into singles. Everyone fought hard but we just weren't quite able to get the fourth singles match we needed - Whitworth is solid all the way through their lineup and we showed that we can compete at that level."

The Bruins' next match will be against Willamette in Newberg on Apr. 10.