WOMEN’S TENNIS: Lutes Close Regular Season With Three at Home

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Puget Sound, Thursday, 4 p.m.; PLU hosts Linfield, Friday, 3:30 p.m.; PLU hosts George Fox, Saturday, 10 a.m.

THREE AT HOME: Pacific Lutheran closes out the regular season this week with three matches in as many days at home - weather permitting, of course. The Lutes get the three-in-three activity underway at 4 p.m. when they play Puget Sound, which currently occupies second in the Northwest Conference standings with a 10-3 mark. PLU is in fourth place with a 9-4 record. This match was rescheduled for this day after an earlier scheduling conflict. The Loggers and the Lutes have played once this year, the Loggers pulling out a 6-3 win over PLU on Feb. 25. On Friday, it's out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Lutes as they host defending conference champion and current NWC leader Linfield at 3:30 p.m. Linfield has won five straight conference titles and is unbeaten in 13 NWC matches this season, including a 7-2 win over the Lutes on March 11. Pacific Lutheran's regular season schedule ends with a 10 a.m. match Saturday against George Fox, which is eighth in the conference with a 1-13 record. PLU defeated the Bruins by a 9-0 score back on March 10.

LUTE LEADERS: Senior Nicole Petrzelka and junior Erika Feltus continue to show their mettle against conference opponents this year. As a doubles unit, Petrzelka and Feltus have lost only one match this season while play at the No. 1 spot. In singles play, both have outstanding records. Feltus played the majority of the season in the No. 1 singles spot and was 9-1 at that position. Add a 4-0 record in recent No. 2 singles play and she is 13-1 overall in singles, including 12-1 against conference opponents. Petrzelka is 3-1 at No. 1 and 9-1 at No. 2 for a combined 12-2 overall singles record, including an 11-2 record in the NWC.

MORE ON THE LUTES: Pacific Lutheran has won five of its last six matches and is 11-4 overall.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT LOOMS: Pacific Lutheran will be one of six Northwest Conference teams that participates in the conference tournament scheduled for next Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, in Yakima. Last year, PLU advanced to the championship match before losing to Linfield, winner of three straight NWC titles. In fact, the last school to win the NWC women's title prior to the Wildcats was Pacific Lutheran, which accomplished the task in 2001 by beating Linfield, 5-4, in the title match.

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