Moline, Ill. – The Wheaton women's tennis team rallied from a deficit on Saturday to earn a 5-4 victory at top-seeded Augustana in the CCIW AQ Tournament Final. The victory gives Wheaton the CCIW's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship, the program's 10
th to the tournament. This year's victory marks the eighth time in the tournament's 10-year history that Wheaton has won the AQ Tournament. The NCAA will announce Regional locations for the tournament and pairings on Monday, May 9.
Thunder head coach
Jane Nelson noted of her team's performance, "It was really wonderful execution under pressure, especially the last few matches that were left out there." She added, "We were down two to four and needed to win our last three singles matches; and
Julie Buursma,
Katie Park and
Emily Jones (PICTURED LEFT) each won their matches."
Augustana led the Thunder 2-1 after completion of the doubles matches. Wheaton's win in doubles was an 8-5 victory at number three doubles for
Miranda Kay and
Erika Nelson over the Augustana tandem of Caitlyn Schaffer and Madeline Lombardi.
Wheaton's
Sara Magnuson picked up a 6-1, 6-1 victory at number-six singles against Vicki Andonova. Augustana countered with victories at number-four and number-five singles to take a 4-2 lead and put the Vikings one away from the CCIW's automatic bid.
Buursma earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Augustana's Lauren Goggin at number-one singles to cut the Vikings' lead to 4-3. Both players entered the match in the ITA Central Region rankings as Buursma is ranked 16
th in the region and Goggin is 17
th.
Park (PICTURED RIGHT) continued the Wheaton rally when she completed a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory at number-two singles against Dana Goggin. Park's win evened the match at 4-4 with only the contest at number-three singles remaining.
Jones faced Augustana's Mollie Magee in the decisive match at number-three singles. Magee won the first set 6-4. However, Jones dramatically rallied with a 6-4 victory in the second set and she secured Wheaton's trip to the NCAA Championships with a 6-4 win the decisive third set.
Nelson noted of the drama late in the match, "Jones and Park played the best matches I have ever seen them play. Both of them really rose to the occasion when the team needed them the most."
Wheaton will be making its 10th appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Team Championship, including a string of seven consecutive appearances from 2008-14. Head coach
Jane Nelson's program is 9-9 all-time in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Nelson mentioned of returning to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2014, "We are super excited to go back to the tournament. We missed out on it last year and it made us a lot hungrier to get back this year."
WHEATON 5, AUGUSTANA 4
Singles competition
1. Buursma, Julie (WHEATON) def. Goggin, Lauren (AUGIE) 6-3, 6-2
2. Park, Katie (WHEATON) def. Goggin, Dana (AUGIE) 6-4, 7-6
3. Jones, Emily (WHEATON) def. Magee, Mollie (AUGIE) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. MacDonald, Aileen (AUGIE) def. White, Kirstie (WHEATON) 6-2, 6-3
5. Schaffer, Caitlyn (AUGIE) def. Kay, Miranda (WHEATON) 6-3, 6-3
6. Magnuson, Sara (WHEATON) def. Andonova, Vicki (AUGIE) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Goggin, Dana/MacDonald, Aileen (AUGIE) def. Buursma, Julie/Park, Katie (WHEATON) 8-5
2. Goggin, Lauren/Magee, Mollie (AUGIE) def. Jones, Emily/White, Kirstie (WHEATON) 8-3
3. Kay, Miranda/Nelson, Erika (WHEATON) def. Schaffer, Caitlyn/Lombardi, Madeline (AUGIE) 8-5
