A women's tennis player is the latest recipient of an award from the athletic department following her trip to the finals during the
.
Garvin (pictured to the right with her medal), who was literally unbeatable for about a month, finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and advanced to the singles flight #3 championship match on October 16 at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Garvin has been selected as the Prairie Fire Performer of the Week after winning two of three singles matches in the tournament and earning a second place medal. She rolled off seven consecutive victories going into the conference tourney.
Prior to the singles championships, Garvin's last loss was September 10 at Grinnell College against the Pioneers' Laura Krull 7-5, 6-2.
Krull, who won all four of her singles matches during the regular season, including a 3-0 record at #3, did not play singles for the MWC champion Pioneers during the tournament. Krull and Sadhana Athreya teamed up to represent Grinnell in #1 doubles and lost in the finals to Elizabeth Larson and Jennifer Roesch of Lawrence University.
Garvin began her run through the championships with a 6-0, 6-1 win in the quarterfinals against Alex Hinck of Beloit College. The victory was Garvin's second against Hinck this season. The two met at the Merdian Tennis Courts on September 11, when Garvin prevailed in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Next up for Garvin in the semifinal round was another opponent she squared off against and beat during the season, Nonie Carson of Lake Forest College. Garvin, who defeated Carson 6-3, 6-2 on October 8, won the high stakes match 6-2, 6-2 to move on to the finals against Grinnell's Shirlene Luk.
Luk took the first set 7-5. Garvin bounced back to win the second 6-3 ahead of the decisive third set. Luk ended Garvin's streak of nine straight victories with a 7-5 decision and the #3 singles title.
Garvin and senior Megan Funk (Springfield, Missouri) went 1-1 on October 15 during the Midwest Conference Doubles Championships.
The pair from Knox defeated Monmouth College's #1 doubles team of Kristen Huffman and Tessa Gin 6-1, 6-1 in the first round. Garvin and Funk then lost in the quarterfinals to Carroll University's Alyssa Larson and Kate Rasmussen 6-3, 6-0. Carroll's doubles team fell in the semifinals against Larson and Roesch of Lawrence.
Garvin concluded the fall season, including the conference championships, with a 9-3 singles mark, including a 7-1 record at #3 and 2-0 at #1. She was also 5-6 in doubles competition -- 5-5 in the #1 flight -- and helped contribute to 14 Prairie Fire wins.
Garvin's nine singles victories are the most since Jessica Wise had 11 in 2007. Wise won nine during the regular season and two more at the conference tournament to take home the #2 singles consolation title.
The Knox women's tennis team placed sixth at the 2011 Midwest Conference Championships, the squad's highest finish since the 2002 team placed sixth.
In addition, Garvin is the first Knox women's tennis player to advance to a winners bracket finals round at MWC Singles Championships since Liz Ferry lost the #1 singles title match in 2004 against Grinnell.
The Prairie Fire Performer of the Week Award is Garvin's second of the fall season. She was also the recipient the week of September 26.
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photo of Garvin above from the Midwest Conference