WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Lewis & Clark College men's tennis team earned the No. 3 seed and will make its 12th consecutive appearance in the Northwest Conference Championships this weekend in Walla Walla. The River Otters will face No. 2 seed Whitworth University in the second semifinal on Friday.
FOLLOW LIVE
Whitman College Athletics will provide live video and live stats coverage of the tournament.
THE MATCHUP
#3 Lewis & Clark (9-10, 9-5 NWC) vs. #2 Whitworth (12-6, 11-3 NWC), 2:00 p.m. Postseason matches are played until one team wins four points. The team that wins at least two of the three doubles matches earns one point, with each singles match counting for one point.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Feb. 28 – Whitworth 5, Lewis & Clark 2
The River Otters earned an early doubles win from senior
Spencer Loucks and first-year
Kaden Sigurdsson, but Whitworth secured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead into singles. Senior
Wade McDermott and junior
Noah Sutin each won in straight sets at No. 5 and No. 2, respectively, with Sutin improving to 4-0 in conference play. Whitworth claimed the remaining four singles matches, including two three-set decisions at No. 1 and No. 6, to secure the team victory.
April 3 – Lewis & Clark 4, Whitworth 3
Sigurdsson and junior
Bridger Galyardt each went 2-0, and Galyardt clinched the match at No. 6 singles. The River Otters secured the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3, then traded singles victories in a back-and-forth contest that featured four ties before Galyardt's three-set win sealed the result. Sigurdsson added a key win at No. 1 singles, while senior
Kai Wills earned a straight-set victory.
POSTSEASON MEETINGS (1999-2024)
Since the NWC introduced its team tournament format in 1999, Lewis & Clark and Whitworth have met three times in postseason play, with the most recent meeting in 2004. Whitworth won two of the three matchups, taking the seventh-place match in 2000 (4-3) and the fifth-place match in 2004 (5-2). Lewis & Clark earned a 4-3 win in the fifth-place match in 2002.
SCOUTING THE RIVER OTTERS
Lewis & Clark enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed for the third straight season. The River Otters have won five of their final seven conference matches, including a 4-3 victory over Linfield in the regular-season finale.
Sutin (10-4), McDermott (8-6), Sigurdsson (7-6), sophomore
Arnav Bishnoi (7-3) and Galyardt (6-1) each recorded at least six conference singles wins. Sigurdsson and Sutin played primarily at the top two singles positions, while Bishnoi, McDermott and Galyardt competed mostly at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6.
In doubles, Sigurdsson and Loucks went 10-4 against conference opponents and 10-2 overall as a team. Bishnoi and McDermott posted an 8-2 record in conference play.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
Whitworth returns to the NWC Tournament for the first time since 2016. The Pirates finished the regular season with an 11-3 conference record. Their three losses came against Lewis & Clark on April 3 and twice to Whitman.
Three Whitworth players recorded 10 or more conference wins. Connor Judson finished 13-1, primarily at No. 4 singles. Henry Preacher competed at No. 2, and Matt Hossack went 10-4 at No. 6.
ELSEWHERE IN THE BRACKET
In Friday's first semifinal, No. 4 George Fox will face top-seeded and host Whitman at 10 a.m. Whitman swept the Bruins during the regular season, earning a 7-0 win at home and a 6-1 win in Newberg. Whitman is ranked No. 9 in the West Region.
WHAT'S NEXT
The winners of Friday's semifinals will meet in the 2026 Northwest Conference Championship match at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
