A previous non-conference match against Monmouth College September 14 was suspended due to darkness. There was no doubt about the outcome of the match, this one a Midwest Conference contest, against the Fighting Scots 15 days later: a 5-4 Knox College victory.
First-year player Dana Pierce (South Barrington, Illinois) won her #1 singles match against Monmouth's Kimi Wegner 7-5, 6-2. Also posting singles victories for Knox were junior Jordan Kuban (Greely, Colorado) against Kristen Huffman at #4 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, junior Rachel Clark (Newton, Iowa) at #5 against Mikaela Rogers 6-1, 6-1 and sophomore Emily Tyl (Downers Grove, Illinois) at #6 against Elizabeth LaFleur 6-1, 6-3.
The #3 Prairie Fire doubles team of Tyl and sophomore Aimee Neilan (Lake in the Hills, Illinois) beat Monmouth's duo of Mikaela Rogers and Danica Rogers 8-4.
Monmouth College's record dipped to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in league play with the loss against the Prairie Fire.
Next up was a trip to Ripon, Wisconsin to play on the Red Hawks' Larson Courts Saturday morning. The non-conference match was a successful one for Knox, which came away with a 6-3 win.
Pierce was victorious again at #1 singles against Ripon's Josie Ullsperger 6-2, 6-1. Junior Megan Funk (Springfield, Missouri) won her third match in the #2 slot against Ellie Hedberg 6-1, 6-1. Senior Mollie Stein made it three straight wins in singles play for the Fire when she beat Katie Majerowski in the #3 match 6-1, 6-4. Following a pair of setbacks for Kuban at #4 and Clark at #5, Tyl took down Olivia Wetzel 6-1, 6-2 for her sixth singles win of the season and second straight.
Knox won two of the three doubles matches against Ripon (3-6). Funk and Pierce defeated Ullsperger and Majerowski 8-2. Kuban and Stein won their #2 doubles competition against Brooke Deans and Megan Stockness 8-6. Tyl and Neilan came up short, 8-5, against Alison Thies and Olivia Wetzel of Ripon in their #3 doubles match.
The second match on Saturday took the Prairie Fire to Appleton, Wisconsin to play Lawrence University.
The Vikings (7-4) came away with an 8-1 victory. Tyl won her #6 singles match against Greta Elsass in grueling fashion: 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7) to avoid a Lawrence sweep.
Tyl has been exceptional of late. The win was her third straight and sixth in her last 10 matches. She's 8-5 overall this season, including a 7-4 mark in #6 singles. Tyl's other victory was earlier this season at #3 singles. She's also 2-1 in Midwest Conference matches.
Tyl has also had success in doubles competition. She and Clark won their only match together at #3 doubles. Tyl has teamed up with Neilan for four more wins - one playing #2 doubles and three more in the #3 doubles slot.
Knox (4-9, 2-2 MWC) has one more tune-up before the Midwest Conference Team Championship October 15 at the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford, Illinois. That will be followed by the Doubles Championships October 16 and the Singles Championships October 17, both at the University of Wisconsin's Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Prairie Fire ends the regular season Wednesday (October 6) at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Play gets started at 4:15 p.m. The Bees enter the match against Knox with a 6-3 record.
