Carroll box score
Lawrence box score

Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire lost a pair of non-conference matches to Carroll University and Lawrence University at home on Saturday.

Knox, riding a two-match winning streak, fell to Carroll 8-1 in the first match of the day.

Senior Dana Pierce (Barrington, IL, Barrington) won her #2 singles match 6-3, 6-3 against Carroll's Megan Rosenburg.

The Pioneers (7-2) also posted a 9-0 non-conference victory at Monmouth College on Saturday

The Prairie Fire dropped their second match of the day 7-2 against Lawrence University.  The win by the Vikings (6-4) was their fourth straight after also defeating Monmouth 9-0 on Saturday.

Senior Charlotte Garvin (Omaha, NE, Central) defeated Lawrence's #1 singles player Gayatri Malhotra handily – 6-0, 6-1.  Fellow senior Emiley Brand (Princeton, IL, Princeton)topped Polly Dalton 6-0, 6-3 in their #3 singles match.

"Against Lawrence it was great to get a win playing my game," Garvin said.  "We all played well and ended the day with our heads held high for the efforts we put forth against both Carroll and Lawrence."

Junior Claire Neri (Melrose Park, IL, West Leyden)fffff also played well for Knox, improving as the match moved along, despite coming up short against LU's Emily Heeren 6-4, 6-4 in #4 singles.

"When you play a tough team, sometimes it's not necessarily about winning matches.  It's more about winning points," Neri said.  "When I'm down in those types of matches, I just think 'one match at a time.'  That's why I was able to come back and win three games after I was down 1-5," she added.

Prairie Fire head coach Miriam Skrade knew going into the matches that Carroll and Lawrence would be solid.

"The scores don't reflect the valiant effort given by the Knox women.  The majority of the games went to deuce and nobody went down without a fight," Skrade said.  "Charlotte Garvin was relentless and a delight to watch in her match against Lawrence.  Against Carroll she faced the best NCAA Division III player I've seen this year and found a way to challenge her in the second set."

Skrade also praised the effort by Pierce.  "She showed great leadership and sportsmanship today and had a great win against Carroll's #2 singles player."

Skrade used some different doubles lineups, but Carroll and Lawrence still prevailed in those matches.  "We had several great set-ups and combinations, but our opponents were simply more experienced," she said.

View women's tennis photos of the 2013 fall season

Knox (2-5, 1-0 MWC South) plays a non-conference match next at Augustana College on September 17 at 4:00 p.m.

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