The women’s tennis team was hoping for an at-large bid invitation to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships. It is troubling considering that of the 29 teams that were chosen, they were below Linfield in rankings.

Head Coach Lisa Macy-Baker was obviously disappointed, but did say “We had a terrific season and that should not go unrecognized.”

The rules of the automatic qualifiers got the best of the Wildcats, the automatic qualifiers were prioritized.

Ella Riddle, ‘18, the player of the year for the Northwest Conference who was undefeated against conference opponents all season was invited to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships to play singles on Wednesday, May 10.

Riddle will not know her upcoming opponent until the night before her match.

“We are very proud of Ella. She deserved this invitation without a doubt. She led her team to a conference title and battled through injury and many of the best players in the West region to get there,” Macy-Baker said.

In her match against Whitman which was indeed the most competitive match of the season for Riddle required an “unbelievable display of grit and determination. She outcompetes her opponents,” Macy-Baker said.

On qualifying in singles, “It’s a huge privilege to be invited to nationals again. It took a lot of hard work and amazing support from my coaches and teammates. Overall, I hope it helps bring light to the amazing things the tennis program is doing and gives it the recognition it deserves,” Riddle said.

As she is preparing, “Preparing right now by increasing my off-court workouts to improve my overall fitness and working with my other coaches on fine-tuning my game. I just want to maintain my focus and hopefully bring home a title for the tennis program and for Lisa and Carl,” Riddle said.