2012 Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Championships
October 13 & 14, 2012 at the Nielsen Tennis Center – University of Wisconsin
October 14, 2012 MWC Singles Championships
Results
The Prairie Fire finished with a total of 20 points following the singles portion of the Midwest Conference Championships and finished eighth in the league in 2012.
Knox won seven singles matches on Sunday, led by junior Charlotte Garvin (Omaha, NE, Central) in the #2 flight.
Garvin defeated St. Norbert College’s Ariel Bloniarz 6-2, 6-1 in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals against Gayatri Malhotra of Lawrence University. Garvin punched her ticket to the semifinals by beating Malhotra 6-2, 7-6 (9-7). In the final four, Garvin lost to MWC champion Grinnell College’s Clothilde Thirouin in a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 match to end the tournament with a 2-1 singles record. Thirouin lost in the #2 singles championship to Kate Rasmussen of Carroll University 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).
Junior Dana Pierce (South Barrington, IL, Barrington) opened with a loss in #1 flight singles to Ariana Hudson of Cornell College 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Pierce bounced back to win against Ripon College’s Brittany Sullivan 8-1 in the consolation semifinals before losing in the consolation final to St. Norbert’s Nancy Chybowski 8-3.
Also scoring points for the Prairie Fire was senior Sarah Bolitho (St. Charles, IL, St. Charles East) at #5 singles. Bolitho dropped her first round match to Polly Dalton of Lawrence 6-1, 6-1 before rolling off two straight wins. She beat Claudia Landsman of Cornell 8-2 in the consolation semifinals and then won the consolation championship with an 8-1 victory against Alison Thies of Ripon College.
Junior Emiley Brand (Princeton, IL, Princeton) won a pair of match for Knox as well at #6 singles. Brand lost her opening round match to Melissa Heeren of Lawrence 6-0, 6-1. She responded with an 8-1 win against Emily Rabin in the consolation first round and an 8-1 victory against Veronica Myers of Ripon before falling to Paola Schnabel of Beloit College 8-6 in the consolation championship.
Grinnell finished first with 96 points. Lake Forest College was second (51), Carroll (78) and St. Norbert (45) tied for third place, Cornell (33) was fifth, Beloit (28) sixth, Lawrence (27) seventh, Knox (20) eighth, Monmouth (14) ninth, Illinois College (11) tenth, and Ripon (10) placed eleventh.
Carroll head coach Craig Mours was named the 2012 Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year, as voted on by the coaches at this weekend’s championships.
Complete results of the championships can be found at http://www.midwestconference.org/sports/2012/10/4/WTEN_1004123022.aspx?id=336&
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October 13, 2012: MWC Doubles Championships
The Prairie Fire notched three wins during the 2012 Midwest Conference Doubles Championships on Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin.
Knox’s #1 doubles team of juniors Dana Pierce (South Barrington, IL, Barrington) and Charlotte Garvin (Omaha, NE, Central) won their first round match-up against Illinois College 6-0, 6-1. Pierce and Garvin bowed out in the quarterfinals against eventual #1 doubles champion Shirlene Luk and Clothide Thirouin of Grinnell College 6-4, 6-4.
The Prairie Fire’s #2 doubles team of seniors Emily Tyl (Downers Grove, IL, Benet Academy) and Aimee Neilan (Lake in the Hills, IL, Jacobs) lost a close first round match against Beloit College’s duo of Maria Mears and Emma Beck 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Tyl and Neilan regrouped to sweep Monmouth College 8-0 before falling in the #2 doubles flight consolation championship against Emily Rasmussen and Laura Michel of St. Norbert College 8-6.
The third win for Knox was in the first round of the #3 doubles flight match against Ripon College. Senior Sarah Bolitho (St. Charles, IL, St. Charles East) and junior Emiley Brand (Princeton, IL, Princeton) defeated Ellie Hedberg and Elizabeth Ake 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinal round. St. Norbert’s Ariel Bloniarz and Maggie Berens got past Bolitho and Brand 6-1, 6-1.
The Prairie Fire scored eight points in the doubles competition. Going into Sunday’s singles championships, Knox is tied for seventh place with Beloit College.
Grinnell College, who won the team championship against Lake Forest College 5-3 on Friday at the Boylan Tennis Center in Rockford, is in first place with 33 points. The Pioneers beat Carroll University 5-4 in the semifinals to reach the championship tilt against the Foresters.
Lake Forest, who defeated St. Norbert College 5-4 in the semifinals of the team championship to advance to the title match against Grinnell, is in second place with 24 points. Carroll University (21 points) and St. Norbert (15) are tied for third place. The top four places are determined by the results of the team championship. Since there is no third place match, Carroll and St. Norbert are tied for third despite the Pioneers having more total points.
Cornell College is in fifth place with 12 points followed by Lawrence University in sixth place with nine points, Knox and Beloit tied for seventh place with eight points each, Monmouth College in ninth place with six points, Illinois College in 10th place with five points, and Ripon College in 11th place (0 points).
The Prairie Fire will look to improve on last season’s sixth place finish at the MWC Championships during singles play on Sunday, the final day of the fall women’s tennis season.
