NEWBERG, Ore. — Fox began their weekend with a highly competitive matchup against No. 31 Whitman, eventually falling 7-0 for the day.

How it Happened

Whitman sits among the top tennis teams in the country, with two players ranked regionally and one of those ranked nationally. Needless to say, the Bruins had their work cut out for them.

Riley Bobkiewicz and Sophie Denham started the day with the tall task of facing off against top-tier competitors Renata Rosell and Nana Vang. Whitman's duo hadn't lost in their last three doubles duels. The Bruins landed on the board first and looked poised to continue tacking on wins after going up 2-0 against the Blues, but their opponents rallied back the next six straight games, finishing with a 6-2 final.

Court 3 included the underclassmen duo of Audrey Gardner and Nicole Schnurbusch. Throughout the set, the Bruins showed fight and snagged a game to trail only 3-1, but eventually saw the gap continue to grow before falling 6-1, giving the Blues the doubles victory.

Juhree Kizziar and Shanah Denham finished out the day going down to the wire against the No. 2 doubles duo for Whitman. They controlled the majority of the set and even took the lead, nearing a victory at 5-4, but the Blues managed to close out the game 7-5 and take home the doubles sweep.

Bobkiewicz looked to change the trajectory of the day in singles on Court 1 in her battle against the No. 11 ranked singles player in the nation, Vang. Bobkiewicz managed to secure two games in each set against her adversary. She was only down 3-2 before falling 6-2 in set one and repeated the same story before falling 6-2 in set two.

For the No. 3 matchup, S. Denham faced off against Sacha Wells for the Blues. In set one, the senior had her back against the wall being down 5-1, but she locked in to win two straight. The momentum, however, didn't continue, and Wells ended up winning set one 6-3. Wells secured the victory after taking four straight games following a 2-2 tie in set two, beating S. Denham 6-2.

Schnurbusch nearly came away with a set-one win against her competitor on Court 6; however, she lost both sets 7-5, 6-0, giving the Blues their game-winning point for the day.

The No. 5 singles matchup featured Gardner. The freshman also put some pressure on her opponent, tying set one 4-4 before ultimately losing 6-4 in set one and 6-2 in set two.

Kizziar fought hard on Court 4. Despite losing set one 6-3, she tied together two consecutive game wins to make it 5-3 after trailing 5-1. Set two demonstrated similar resilience, pushing her opponent to 4-4 and keeping her hopes alive. However, Bailey Bell of Whitman took the next two games and ended the match with a 6-4 victory.

In the final singles match of the day, Sh. Denham came close to winning the first set among all singles matches for the Bruins, tying the game 6-6 after being down 6-4. She managed to put up four points in the tiebreak set but ultimately fell 7-4 in the tiebreak and lost set one, dropping set two 6-3 after being tied 3-3 midway through her competition.

Freshman Abigail Gonzales saw her first action of the year in an exhibition against Whitman's Natalie Cruz ending in a hard-fought 8-0 loss.

The Bruins now look to regroup after falling to 2-3 on the year and 2-2 in the Northwest Conference.

What Happens Next

The Bruins will return home on Sunday, March 1, at 11:00 a.m. to compete against the Whitworth Pirates.