APPLETON, RIPON, and ST. NORBERT, Wisconsin – The Prairie Fire women's tennis team concluded the regular season with a close call in one match and losses against two of the hottest teams in the Midwest Conference during a two-day trip to Wisconsin on Saturday and Sunday.

Lawrence University 9    Knox 0
The Prairie Fire began the day on Saturday with a 9-0 loss at Lawrence.  The Vikings (9-7, 6-4) closed out the regular season with four straight wins but came up just short of qualifying for the Midwest Conference Team Tournament.  Knox first-year player Taytem Chapman (Lincoln, NE, Lincoln East) had the tightest match against the Vikings.  Chapman came up short 7-5 in the first set against LU's Hannah Geoffrey.  Geoffrey went on to take the second set 6-3 in a #1 singles showdown.

Ripon College 5    Knox 4
The Prairie Fire got off to a good start against Ripon on Saturday afternoon by taking two of the three doubles matches.  The Red Hawks countered by winning four of the six singles matches to pick up the win.  First-years Taytem Chapman (Lincoln, NE, Lincoln East) and Miranda Corbett (Algonquin, IL, Jacobs) teamed up for an 8-5 #1 doubles victory.  First-year Lauren Sparks (Salem, OR, South Salem) and sophomore Kaly Davidson (Needham, MA, Needham) added a convincing 8-1 #3 doubles win against Ripon.  Sparks and Davidson won their singles matches as well.  Sparks prevailed 6-3, 6-2 in the #5 slot and Davidson posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory at #6.

"I think everyone on the team struggled this morning to find their strength and positivity.  At our second meet all of the players were fighting and focused.  It was really great for me to see my attitude and concentration on ground strokes translate into wins," Sparks said about the Ripon match.

The Red Hawks (1-13, 1-8), however, claimed victories in the #1 through #4 singles contests.  That included a tough setback for the Prairie Fire's Chapman against Ripon's #1 singles player Maddie VandenHouten.  Chapman blanked VandenHouten 6-0 in the first set before falling 6-4 to force a long tiebreaking third set.  The battle ended with VandenHouten edging out Chapman 13-11 for the win.

St. Norbert College 9    Knox 0
The Prairie Fire wrapped up their two-day, three-match trip on Sunday at Midwest Conference leader St. Norbert College.  Knox won six games in its regular season finale against the red-hot Green Knights (13-1, 10-0), who closed out their regular season with 11 consecutive wins, a first place finish in the conference standings, and a #1 seed at the MWC team tournament in the spring.

The Prairie Fire will compete next in the 2014 Midwest Conference Doubles and Singles Championships on October 18 and 19 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.