As their season winds down, the Logger women’s tennis team kept their winning streak going last weekend, emerging victorious from all three of their matches.
The Loggers first traveled to Lakewood to take on rival Pacific Lutheran on Wednesday, Apr. 4. They had dominated the Lutes in their first encounter, defeating them 8-1 in their match-up on Feb. 15, and were looking to sweep the season series. The Loggers were also on a bit of a roll headed into the game, with three straight victories the previous weekend.
After putting themselves in a hole early on by dropping the first doubles match, the team rallied to win the next two, with the doubles teams of sophomores Marrissa Friedman (Novato, Calif.) and Logan Thompson (Decorah, Iowa), and senior Ada Yu (Salem, Ore.) and junior Maddie Thiesse (Chanhassen, Minn.) each getting victories. Already winning 2-1, the Loggers showed their dominance in the singles portion, where they won five of the six individual matches, all in straight sets. The end result was a dominant Logger win 7-2 over the Lutes.
Following the encouraging victory on the road, the Loggers returned home to face Pacific University on Friday, Apr. 6. The match started off disastrously for the Loggers, as they dropped their first two doubles matches. Luckily for the team, Yu and Thiesse were able to salvage the final match.
Facing a 2-1 hole headed into singles play, the Loggers rose to the challenge. After dropping the first match, the Loggers rallied to win four of the next five points for their team. Josie Dow (Seattle, Wash.) put the finishing touches on a tense Logger victory by winning the deciding match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, a come-from-behind victory that seemed almost like a microcosm for the rest of the match.
The Loggers’ final home game of the season came the next day, as they hosted George Fox University on Saturday, Apr. 7. Luckily for the Loggers, it was a far less nerve-wracking affair than their previous match. Friedman and Thompson, as well as Yu and Thiesse, captured victories in the doubles portion of the match to take the early lead.
From there, the Loggers expanded their lead by winning five of the six singles matches. Sophomore Jenna Gerdsen (Kamuela, Hawaii) played a particularly impressive match, scoring a hard-fought 6-2, 1-6, 10-7 victory over her opponent. When all was said and done, the Loggers coasted to a 7-2 victory over their conference rivals for their sixth straight victory.
This late resurrection may have saved the Loggers’ season, as their six straight victories catapulted them from the bottom of the conference into the fourth and final seed in the NWC Tournament. The Loggers will conclude their regular season with a trip to play conference champion Linfield, in what the team hopes will be a preview for the upcoming tournament.