Kalamazoo, Mich. -- One week after beginning its 2025 schedule, the Thunder women's tennis team left the state this weekend for its only true road match of the spring, a contest at Kalamazoo College. The hosting Hornets claimed a competitive 4-3 victory this afternoon to end their six-match losing streak against the Thunder since 2016. Kalamazoo improved to 3-2 on the year with Saturday's result, while Wheaton's record drops to 9-3.

Lydia Adams and Madeline Gentry took care of business in their #1 doubles matchup today with a 6-3 win. But the hosts gained what proved to be a vital point from the doubles competitions with a 6-2 result in the second spot and a hard-fought 7-6 tiebreak win at #3 doubles. This marked the first point that the Thunder have allowed in a team match since their historic 4-3 victory at North Central College last October, ending a run of four-consecutive 7-0 wins for the conference co-champions.

Kalamazoo's doubles tally would ultimately make the difference in determining the outcome of the match, as the two sides evenly split the singles results with three wins apiece. The Hornets picked up points from each of the first three singles positions, while Wheaton owned the bottom half of the lineup. Ella Malone registered a straight-set sweep of her #4 singles rival with a pair of 6-1 frames, and Tatum Thurstone and Janet Kondo both earned match wins in three sets. The former shook off a 2-6 outcome in the first set to battle back for the win with two 6-3 sets in her favor, while the latter notched a 6-2 first-set victory and a 6-3 third-frame result to take the point from her contest. Unfortunately for the visitors, these three match wins were not enough to secure a tenth team victory of the campaign as Kalamazoo secured a nail-biting win on the day.

Next up for Wheaton is the team's annual Spring Break trip to Florida. The Thunder are set to play three different nonconference opponents on three-consecutive days in the Orlando area, beginning with a match against Curry College on Wednesday, March 12th.