Jacksonville, IL – The Prairie Fire defeated Illinois College, the second win over the Lady Blues this season, 9-0 on Tuesday.
Knox (5-7, 2-2 MWC South) also beat IC 9-0 at home on September 16. The win is the second straight for the Prairie Fire and the fourth in the last five matches. The only loss over the last five matches was a close 5-4 decision at Beloit College on September 29.
Junior Charlotte Garvin (Omaha, NE, Central) won her #1 singles match 6-0, 7-5 for her sixth singles victory of the season. Senior Emily Tyl (Downers Grove, IL, Benet Academy), also with six wins, was victorious in #2 singles 6-1, 6-0. Senior Aimee Neilan (Lake in the Hills, IL, Jacobs) came back from a 1-6 loss in set one to take the next two sets 6-4, 11-9 in #3 flight singles. Senior Sarah Bolitho (St. Charles, IL, St. Charles East) won 6-0, 6-1 in #4 singles, sophomore Claire Neri (Melrose Park, IL, West Leyden) blanked her opponent 6-0, 6-0 in her #5 singles match, and senior Charmaine Washington (Blue Island, IL, La Lumiere School) prevailed 6-0, 6-4 in #6 singles.
Garvin and Tyl won 8-3 in #1 doubles, Neilan and Washington beat IC’s #2 doubles team 8-4, and Bolitho and Neri downed IC in #3 doubles 8-1.
The Prairie Fire has one match remaining in the fall regular season. Knox takes on MWC South Division leader Lake Forest College (9-2, 3-0 MWC South) at home on October 6 at 8:30 a.m.
Lake Forest, Grinnell College (6-3, 3-1 MWC South), and Cornell College (6-4, 3-1 MWC South) and vying for the two spots in the Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Team Tournament on October 12 in Rockford.
Cornell and Grinnell play on October 6 in Grinnell. Lake Forest has beaten both teams and is a lock to qualify for the MWC Team Tournament as the #1 seed from the south. The winner of the match between Grinnell and Cornell will sew up the second seed from the South Division.
Three teams are also battling for the two spots in the MWC Team Tournament from the North Division. Carroll University (9-2, 2-0 MWC North), St. Norbert College (5-7, 2-0 MWC North), and Lawrence University (7-4, 1-0 MWC North) each have undefeated conference records. Carroll and Lawrence play an important match on October 3 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. St. Norbert and Carroll meet on October 6 in De Pere, Wisconsin.
The Midwest Conference standings as of October 2 are available at http://www.midwestconference.org/index.aspx?path=wten&tab=_tennis
Knox, after the meet against Lake Forest, will resume play in the Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Doubles Championships on October 13 and the Midwest Conference Women’s Tennis Singles Championships on October 14, both in Madison, Wisconsin.
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