SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth heads to the Northwest Conference men's tennis tournament this weekend as the 5th-seeded team after the Pirates finished fifth in the final conference standings. The winner of this weekend's tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division III championships.

Whitman College is the official host of this year's event at the Yakima Tennis Club.

Whitworth (9-15 overall, 9-7 NWC) will take on 4th-seeded Pacific Lutheran (13-9, 11-5) in a first-round match on Friday at 8:00 a.m. The winner will advance to play top-seeded (and three-time NWC champion) Whitman College (18-4, 16-0 NWC) in one semifinal at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.

The other half of the bracket features 3rd-seeded Willamette (11-7, 11-5) taking on 6 Puget Sound (5-11, 5-11). That winner will play second-seeded Linfield (13-6, 13-3). The third-place match will take place on Saturday morning, with the championship slated for Saturday at noon.

On March 13th Whitworth defeated Pacific Lutheran in men's tennis for the first time since 1991 and the Pirates hope that the recent result will carry over to Friday's match. PLU has been a dominant power in NWC men's tennis, winning 12 conference titles in the last 20 years.

Both Whitworth and PLU face an uphill chore to claim the NWC crown, however. During the history of the NWC tournament (begun in 1999), no team seeded below second has ever won.

Whitworth has played well in Northwest Conference matches this season. Four of the seven conference losses have been by a 5-4 margin.