Tennis earns playoff spot

Finishing out their season this last weekend, the Pioneer women’s tennis team left Walla Walla Sunday afternoon with a 6-3 victory over Whitman.

Their win made them the #3 seed for the Conference Tournament this upcoming weekend in Yakima, Washington at the Yakima tennis pavilion. The girls anticipate a good match against Pacific Lutheran (#8 seed) at 8 a.m. this Friday. 
The winner of the match will take on Whitworth at 12:30 p.m., Friday.

Amalia Nilsson (’11), from Stockholm, Sweden, finished her season with a final singles win against Whitman, giving her a perfect 16-0 winning record in singles play in the Northwest Conference. Lisa Harunga (’10) of Kilua, Hawaii, finished with a 14-1 record for #2 singles, and Maggie Peach (’10) of Bellingham, Washington, and Mika Yokoyama (’11) also finished off the season with singles wins.

The match against PLU this weekend will mark the 3rd time the Pioneers have seen the Lutes this season, with Pioneers winning the prior competitions 6-3 and 5-4. If they defeat the Lutes, they will have their work cut out for them against Whitworth, who defeated LC 7-2 and 6-3 during the regular season.

The men’s team finished the season with a 9-0 loss at Whitman and placed 7th in Conference play. Their season was mired in disappointment and close losses, including four 5-4 losses to Willamette, Pacific, LaVerne and Puget Sound. Still, the Pios 3-13 NWC record fell far short of getting them into the playoffs, as the 6th place Loggers finished 7-9.
Only George Allen (’10) finished with a winning singles record at 10-9.