Moline, Ill. - The Wheaton College women's tennis team defeated Augustana 5-2 on Saturday in the championship match of the 2019 CCIW Automatic Qualifier Tournament. The tournament title marks Wheaton's league-best 10th tournament victory since the CCIW Automatic Qualifier Tournament began in 2007. The Thunder have won three of the last four Automatic Qualifier tournaments.

Wheaton earns the CCIW's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship by winning this weekend's tournament. The NCAA berth is Wheaton's 12th NCAA Tournament appearance. The Thunder will find out its First Round opponent and Regional location when tournament brackets are announced on Monday, May 6.

Thunder head coach Jane Nelson said of her team's victory, "Augustana gave us all we could handle, hats off to them. Our team played great. We talked about this moment back in the fall. We wanted to give ourselves a chance win the AQ. The team has worked hard this spring to be ready to play this weekend. Everything we did was to prepare is for this weekend. Our theme was "It only takes 5!" I am so proud of the team and the excellent leadership from our two captains Emma [Westwick]  and Sara [Magnuson].

Wheaton gained an early 2-1 lead in the team score thanks to a pair of doubles victories. The Thunder No. 1 doubles team of Claire Browning and Claire Dibble earned an 8-3 victory against the Augustana team of Caitlyn Schaffer and Madeline Lombardi. Emma Westwick and Bethany Hoogerheide defeated the Augustana team of Morgan Bullen and Leraaen Abbott 8-7 in the matchup at No. 3 doubles.

Dibble was a 6-3, 6-4 victor at No. 4 singles against Augustana's Madeline Lombardi. Nicole Freeman defeated Bullen 6-1, 6-2 in their matchup at No. 5 singles. Emme Lindquist earned a 7-6, 6-3 win against Abbot at No. 6 singles.

Wheaton improves to 16-5 on the season. Augustana is now 18-6 in the 2018-19 campaign.