Bloomington, Ill. -- The 2023-24 season came to an end for the Wheaton women's tennis team on Friday, as the Thunder took on third-seeded North Park University in a CCIW Tournament semifinal. The Vikings denied the Thunder a spot in their third-consecutive conference tournament championship match with a 5-2 victory today and earned their first win over Wheaton in the process. As a result, the Thunder team ends its campaign with an overall match record of 14-5 and a CCIW regular season mark of 7-1.

Wheaton topped North Park, 6-3, in the Windy City back in September, but the Vikings were able to flip the script on the tournament's #2 seed this afternoon. NPU captured all three doubles points, including a vital 8-6 result at #1 doubles, to establish the foundation it needed for today's upset.

The Vikings went into singles play needing just two wins from six contests to earn the required five points and book their place in Saturday's championship match. The Chicago side earned these two victories at #3 and #4 singles, while Wheaton triumphed in the #5 and #6 positions. Delaney Canning and Tatum Thurstone made it two wins from two singles matches each this weekend, with the freshman duo both posting comfortable 6-1, 6-1 results in today's contest to account for Wheaton's two points as a team

Even with the disappointment of today's defeat, there is reason for optimism going forward for the Thunder squad, as Wheaton is set to return all but one player from this season's roster in 2024-25. The Thunder will now head into the summer break before beginning a new season in September.