Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
MADISON, Wis. – Lake Forest College nearly made it a two-day sweep as the Foresters won five of six singles matches a day after winning all three doubles at the 2018 Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Tennis Singles and Doubles Tournaments. All six singles finals were between Lake Forest and Grinnell College with the Pioneers’ Isabella Green’s win at the No. 3 flight preventing the Forester sweep.
Full Results
No. 1 Singles
There were multiple good story lines in the No. 1 singles title match between Abby Nielsen of Grinnell and Lake Forest’s Julie Lord. Nielsen won the 2017 No. 4 singles championship then followed that up with an undefeated regular season all the way up at the No. 1 spot, while Lord was looking to take the crown a year after finishing runner-up to another Pioneer. On the way to the finals, the pair combined to drop just three games with Lord coming out on top 6-2, 6-3.
Nielsen had a bit of a wait to learn who she would face in the semifinals as Ripon College’s Brianna Bembenek and St. Norbert College’s Meg Witt were locked in a three-set dual. The two traded a pair of 6-4 sets before Witt pulled out a 7-5 win in the third to advance. Lawrence University’s Annie Harincar and Beloit College’s Hayden Lamphere faced off in the consolation final after their opponents had to withdraw due to injury. Playing eight-game pro-set matches in the consolation bracket, Harincar picked up the 8-4 win.
No. 2 Singles
Allison Watts successfully defended her title at No. 2 singles as she beat Grinnell’s Emma Gaydos by a score of 6-3,6-0. First-year Gaydos advanced to the final after beating the 2018 Newcomer of the Year Cami Gricius 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Both swept their opening matches before Gaydos was able to avenge her loss against Gricius from the regular season.
Lawrence’s Katie Nottberg lost a tiebreaker in the opening set of her first match then fell in the second set to drop down into the consolation bracket. Nottberg made it to the consolation final but Sally Hixson of Illinois College pulled out an 8-4 win.
No. 3 Singles
The Forester’s failed to get the sweep and they have Grinnell’s Izzy Green to thank. Just a first-year, Green capped off an undefeated conference season at No. 3 singles with the MWC Championship at that position. Lake Forest’s Leeza Bodnar had to settle for a runner-up finish for the second year in a row as she fell to Green 6-4, 6-2.
St. Norbert’s Sofie Koppmannn picked up a second place finish at No. 6 singles last year and playing three positions up at No. 3 she reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ripon’s Samantha Kiesner. Kiesner would go on to face another player who moved up the lineup in 2018. Illinois College’s Kalissa Goertz picked up the consolation final win 8-3 over Kiesner after winning the No. 5 championship in 2017.
No. 4 Singles
In one of the best matches of the day, as Lake Forest’s Emma Wang, competing in her first MWC Individual Tournament, defeated two-time MWC singles champion Lily Hamilton of Grinnell. Wang pulled out the win with a pair of 7-5 set victories. The pair’s paths to the final mirrored each other as both swept their first matches 6-0, 6-0 then won their semifinals 6-3, 6-2.
In a battle of between juniors, Cornell’s Megan Pope came back from a 1-6 first set loss to beat Monmouth College’s Rachael Liefheit 6-2, 6-1. Leifheit went on to win the consolation final 8-1 over Beloit College’s Emma Hahn.
No. 5 Singles
The No. 5 singles final between Grinnell’s Brenda Guan and Lake Forest’s Tyranny Miller was looking to be a repeat of their tight three-set regular season meeting. Miller pulled out the first set 7-5 and was up just 4-2 in the second when Guan, unfortunately, had to retire due to injury. In the semifinals, Miller also edged her opponent, St. Norbert’s Nicole Pfotenhauer, 7-5 in the first set before cruising to a 6-1 second set victory and a spot in the championship.
The fourth semifinalist was Cornell’s Emmaline Fievet who faced a familiar opponent in Natalie Curtis of Monmouth to advance. The two played in the final match of the regular season and the results were similar as Fievet rallied once again for a three-set victory. Curtis would rebound to take the consolation final 8-2 over Ripon’s MacKenzie Warner.
No. 6 Singles
The No. 6 championship match was a battle of first-years as Katie Wegrecki of Lake Forest defeated Sara Amano of Grinnell. Wegrecki won the first set 6-4 but was trailing in the second before she rallied to win 6-3. Amano reached the final with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 against an experienced senior in Cornell’s Janice Elkerton.
A third first-year reached the semifinals after St. Norbert’s Hannah Keller won both the second and third sets 6-2 after falling 5-7 in the first set to Ripon’s Katelyn Peroutka. It was Keller’s second victory in as many weekends over the Red Hawk senior. Peroutka did go on to win the consolation final 8-0 over Monmouth’s Lexi Tibbs.
Along with Cami Gricius’ picking up MWC Newcomer of the Year honors, Lake Forest head coach Raquel Vescovi was named the MWC Coach of the Year and Beloit College received the sportsmanship award.