The Whitman Blues have been selected as the preseason favorite for the 2026 Northwest Conference (NWC) women’s tennis season in a vote of the NWC's head coaches.
Whitman enters the spring as the three-time defending NWC Tournament champion after posting a 13–1 conference record in 2025. The Blues earned 49 points and received seven of the eight first-place votes in this year’s poll.
Pacific was picked to finish second with 41 points and the remaining first-place vote after another strong showing a season ago. Whitworth followed closely in third with 39 points.
Lewis & Clark was selected fourth with 30 points, while George Fox placed fifth with 26 points.
Puget Sound and Willamette tied for sixth in the poll with 15 points each, and Linfield rounded out the rankings in eighth with nine points.
The NWC women’s tennis season will culminate with the NWC Tournament on April 18-19th, with the tournament champion earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship.
|
Team
|
Pts.
|
2025 NWC Finish
|
|
Whitman (7)
|
49
|
1st
|
|
Pacific (1)
|
41
|
2nd
|
|
Whitworth
|
39
|
4th
|
|
Lewis & Clark
|
30
|
4th
|
|
George Fox
|
26
|
2nd
|
|
Puget Sound
|
15
|
6th
|
|
Willamette
|
15
|
6th
|
|
Linfield
|
9
|
8th
|