JACKSONVILLE, Illinois—The Prairie Fire women's tennis season began their conference season with a 6-3 victory over Illinois College on Wednesday.
 
Knox (1-4, 1-0 MWC) got singles wins from #2 Annaliese McDermott (6-2, 6-1), #3 Bhumika Gupta (6-1, 6-0), #4 Miranda Corbett (4-6, 6-3, 6-1), and #6 Lauren Sparks (6-4, 6-0). #1 Emily Miller (6-7, 3-6) and #5 Maddie Schacht (3-6, 5-7) both fell in close matches.
 
Gupta teamed up with Annaliese McDermott to claim an 8-2 victory in #1 doubles. Corbett and Schacht won their #2 doubles match 9-7, while Sparks and Sierra Henry got edged 5-8 in #3 doubles.
 
The Prairie Fire will look to continue their strong start in conference play when they travel to Wisconsin this weekend to battle St. Norbert, Lawrence, and Ripon.