March 7, 2007

WOMEN’S TENNIS: Lutes Head to Oregon After Splitting NWC Matches

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at Linfield, Saturday, 10 a.m.; PLU at George Fox, Saturday, 3 p.m.

LUTES SPLIT, THEN SPLIT: Pacific Lutheran split a pair of Northwest Conference matches last weekend, beating Whitworth and losing to Whitman. This weekend, the Lutes will “split” for Oregon where they face Linfield and George Fox on Saturday in Northwest Conference matches. PLU and Linfield play in McMinnville at 10 a.m., then the Lutes head up the road to Newberg where they face the Bruins at 3 p.m. Linfield will provide the biggest challenge for the Lutes because the Wildcats have won five straight conference titles dating back to 2002. In fact, Linfield defeated PLU, 8-1, to win the 2006 championship. Pacific Lutheran was the last school prior to Linfield to win a NWC title, that coming in 2001. This year, Linfield leads the Northwest Conference with a 4-0 record, and the Wildcats are 4-1 overall. PLU enters the competition with a 4-2 record in the NWC and overall. George Fox is currently 1-4 in conference matches and 1-5 overall.

LUTES SNEAK PAST WHITWORTH: Trailing 2-1 after doubles competition, Pacific Lutheran won four of the six singles matches to defeat the Whitworth Pirates, 5-4, in a conference match played Saturday at the UPS Indoor Pavilion. PLU's top doubles team of Erika Feltus and Nicole Petrzelka remained unbeaten in five matches this year with an 8-1 win, but the Pirates had wins at No. 2 and at No. 3 doubles to take the early lead. The Lutes responded with singles wins from Feltus, Petrzelka, Bria Smith and Liz Currey. With her 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1, Feltus remained unbeaten this season in singles competition.

DOUBLES POINTS CARRY WHITMAN: Whitman swept the doubles competition and went on to defeat Pacific Lutheran, 6-3, in a NWC match played Sunday at UPS. The Lutes got wins from the top three singles players - Erika Feltus, Nicole Petrzelka and Bria Smith - but could not break through in any other match.

NWC HONORS PETRZELKA: Senior Nicole Petrzelka won both of her singles matches and split her doubles matches last weekend and as a result is a Northwest Conference Player of the Week honorable mention selection. Petzrelka’s loss in doubles came in an unusual fashion. Normally she plays No. 1 double with Erika Feltus, but Feltus incorrectly set her alarm clock for an early 8 a.m. match against Whitman. Feltus arrived at the match late, and in the meantime Petrzelka teamed up with Liz Currey and the duo lost a close 9-7 decision to Whitman’s No. 1 team. Feltus and Petrzelka, incidentally, remain unbeaten at No. 1 doubles this year.

- PLU -