BELOIT, Wis. – The Illinois College women's tennis team overcame being a player down and managed to split their opening Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday. After losing to Lake Forest College, 9-0, the Lady Blues came from 3-1 down to nab a 5-4 victory over Beloit College. IC moves to 2-3 (1-1 MWC) after Saturday's matches.
The morning session got off to a tough start as a talented Lake Forest team took advantage of the short-handed IC squad. The Foresters started out ahead, 1-0, with the Lady Blues unable to field a No. 3 doubles team. Lake Forest then swept the doubles competition to make it 3-0. Again, without a No. 6 singles player, IC went down 4-0 in the match. The Foresters closed it out in short order soon after, winning all five singles matches in straight sets.
After trekking to Beloit, Illinois College showed grit and determination to overcome the immediate deficit against the Buccaneers. Though
Sally Hixson and
Kalisa Goertz came up just short at No. 2 doubles, falling 9-7,
Kathryn Ryan and
Sophia Roth got the Lady Blues on the board with an 8-4 No. 1 doubles victory.
Again losing a point at No. 6 singles, Illinois College was in a 3-1 hole and could only afford to drop one of the five singles matches that were being played. The Lady Blues accomplished exactly that feat, securing victories at each spot between No. 1 and No. 4 to come from behind for the win. Ryan tore through Hayden Lamphere at No. 1, 6-1, 6-1. At No. 2, Roth took care of Bailey Ekstrand, 6-2, 6-1. Hixson downed Priya Heinen, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3. Goertz finished off the win at No. 4 with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Emma Hahn. In the No. 5 match, Beloit's Makayla Jo Zundel outlasted
Madelyn Deardorff, 5-7, 6-0, 10-3.
MWC play continues next week for Illinois College and the Lady Blues will host three matches at the Bellatti Tennis Complex on Sept. 15 and 16.
