SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth is gunning for its first Northwest Conference title in women's tennis since 1997 this weekend as the Pirates enter the 2009 NWC tournament as the top seed.

Whitworth will take on either 4th-seeded Lewis & Clark or 5th-seeded Pacific in a tournament semifinal on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the Yakima Tennis Center. The winner of tomorrow's semifinal match will play for the NWC Championship on Saturday at Noon. Linfield heads into the tournament as the six-time defending conference champion.

The Pirates swept both L&C and Pacific this season on the way to a perfect 16-0 NWC record.

There are two ways to follow the results of the tournament. The first is the official tournament website, provided by UPS, at http://www2.ups.edu/athletics/tennis/2009/09tennischampionships.html.

The second way is to follow the Whitworth Twitter page, provided by Colin Storm, at https://twitter.com/whitworthtennis.