SPOKANE – Whitworth handed Pacific Lutheran its second women's tennis defeat in as many days, winning the final seven matches of the day to claim a 7-2 Northwest Conference win over the Lutes Saturday at Scotford Tennis Center.

After opening the season with six straight wins, the Lutes fall to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in NWC play after suffering back-to-back road losses to the other two teams atop the conference standings going into the weekend. PLU will look to bounce back next week down in California, as the Lutes take on four nonconference schools down south over spring break beginning with a match against Caltech at 10 a.m. on March 22.

The day began with a positive outlook for PLU, as the Lutes claimed the first two doubles matches. Leah Newell and Samantha Lund teamed up to defeat Saryn Mooney/Taylor Pena 8-5, and Allison McClure and Mariah Siemion followed suit with an 8-5 win of their own over Bella Hoyos and Morgan McDivitt. Anabelle Burns and Hannah Wallin got Whitworth on the board in the third doubles match, defeating Megan Beyers and Emily Bower by a close 8-6 score.

With straightforward wins in the first two singles matches, Whitworth claimed the lead at 3-2. Hoyos picked up a two-set win over Beyers in the No. 3 singles match, but Beyers pushed the opening set to extra points before Hoyos pulled out the 7-5, 6-3 win.

The final three singles matches all went down to the wire. Burns defeated McClure 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to clinch the team victory for Whitworth in the No. 4 matchup. The closest match of the day followed, as McDivitt handed Siemion her first singles loss of the season with a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) win. Caylee Lamm wrapped up the day with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Bower.