April 26, 2016

Women’s Tennis Team Wins Northwest Conference Tournament

The Lewis & Clark Pioneers are the 2016 Northwest Conference women’s tennis champions, ending a run of five straight titles for Whitman College. The conference title is the first for Lewis & Clark since 1979.

For the first time in more than 35 years, the Lewis & Clark Pioneers are the Northwest Conference women’s tennis champions. On Sunday, the team delivered a 5-2 win over Whitman College at the Lewis & Clark Tennis Dome, ending Whitman’s five straight conference titles.

“All the hard work that the players have put in—in the classroom and the weight room and the early morning workouts—it all paid off today with a title that those women deserve,” said Lewis & Clark Head Tennis Coach Patrick Dreves, who earlier in the week was named Northwest Conference Coach of the Year. “They’ve been working at it since they were little kids.”

The team’s overall strong performance was buoyed by sisters Aurora Garrison ’16 and Summer Garrison ’19, who played for the first time as a doubles team and are ranked 23rd in the nation for their division. And it was Aurora’s rally-from-behind, third-set win that clinched the fifth point LC needed to win the tournament.

Selection of the teams for the NCAA Championship will be announced on May 9. If the team does well at the regionals, they could earn a spot at the final site tournament, which will be held May 23-28 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The team is currently ranked No. 18 in the nation.

Lewis & Clark Women’s Tennis