April 21, 2008

Lutes Ends Season With Fourth-Place Finish at NWC Tourney

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran women’s tennis team ended their season this past week at the Northwest Conference Women’s Tennis Championships.

NWC RECAP: Pacific Lutheran came into the Northwest Conference women's tennis tournament as No. 6 seed and it left with a fourth-place finish after falling to Whitman, 6-3, on Saturday morning at Yakima Tennis Club. The Lutes, who finished the season with a 10-12 overall record, upset No. 3 seed Lewis & Clark, 6-3, in Friday's opening round to move into a semifinal match against No. 2 seed Whitworth. The Lutes pushed the Pirates to the brink before falling, 5-4. That set up Saturday morning's contest against Whitman with third place on the line. The Missionaries got off to a quick start with wins in all three doubles matches, and after that the Lutes mustered a split in singles play. Winning their singles matches for PLU were Liz Currey (5-7, 6-0, 6-1 over Hadley DeBree), Emily Starr (7-5, 6-1 over Alex Robinson) and Esther Ham (6-2, 6-0 over Jacquie Frank). Linfield won its seventh straight conference championship with a 5-4 win over Whitworth. Lewis & Clark defeated Willamette, 5-3, in the fifth-place match played Friday afternoon.

ALL-NWC: Senior Erika Feltus picked up one last honor as she was named to the First Team All-Northwest Conference. Feltus was the only PLU athlete on the first or second team. This is the third year in a row that Feltus has been named to First Team All-NWC. The Bremerton native compiled a 9-12 singles record this year, including 7-8 in conference. Every singles match played by Feltus was in the number one spot. In doubles, Feltus went 13-8.

SENIORS SAY GOODBYE: Two four-year letter winners will be lost this year due to graduation. Seniors Erika Feltus and Liz Currey were a solid 1-2 punch all season long. In four years at PLU, Feltus recorded a 56-30 record in singles, including an 18-12 record in the number one spot. Currey finished with a 44-24 career record in singles.

FOUR IN A ROW: Head coach Lorrie Wood wrapped up her first season as head coach of the PLU women’s tennis team. Although the team did have a losing record (10-12), the fourth place finish at the conference tournament was a good sign. Wood helps extend a four-year streak of the Lutes making it to the semifinals at the conference tournament. The loss of Currey and Feltus will be a tough blow, but Ashley Coats and Ashley Brooks were solid in the 3-4 spots. Coats finished with a 14-8 singles record, most of that coming at No. 3, while Brooks ended up 13-9, most of that at No. 4. Emily Starr battled injuries this year but finished with a 9-2 singles mark, all of that at No. 5.

- PLU -