The Linfield women’s tennis team played two away matches Feb. 22 and 23 against Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. and Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., both of which Linfield ended up losing.

Their first match was last Friday against defending conference champions, Whitman College. Though Linfield ultimately lost 5-4, freshman Mackenzie Fraser and senior Caroline Brigham won the last doubles match of the night, giving the team a confidence boost as they headed into singles matches. Junior Kaila Nip, freshman Courtney Mostul, and junior Kelly Watanabe all won their singles matches against Whitman’s tough competition. Other singles that were lost were very close.

Linfield came into this match as the underdog, so despite their loss against Whitman College, the team remains in high spirits and feels good about their performance.

The second match of the weekend was last Saturday against Whitworth University, which Linfield lost 7-2.

After losing 0-3 after doubles, the girls found it very difficult to try and pull through the singles matches. Nip, freshman Marisa Kume, and junior Gretchen Jernstedt all battled through some very close singles matches that went three sets each.

Unfortunately for Linfield, even their good performance in singles could not outweigh the tough doubles losses that they experienced earlier in the match.

“It was a tough loss for us, but luckily we play them again at home later in the season. So hopefully we will be better rested and more prepared then,” Brigham said.