Bloomington, Ill. -- After defeating Augustana College in perfect 4-0 fashion in yesterday's quarterfinal match at the CCIW Tournament, the Thunder women's tennis team repeated the feat in today's semifinal against the other conference team with a Vikings mascot, topping second-seeded North Park University, 5-0. This afternoon's lopsided win propels Wheaton into the championship match of this year's conference tournament, where it will take on the #1 seed, the North Central Cardinals. Saturday's title fixture is scheduled for noon in Bloomington, and it marks the third time in the last four seasons that Wheaton and North Central have met in the trophy match. Friday's semifinal win was the Thunder's 15th victory of the 2024-25 campaign and fourth-consecutive win on the bounce.

The Vikings earned a 5-2 win over the Thunder in their regular season matchup back in September and ended Wheaton's conference tournament stay at this stage last year by the same score. But the regular season co-champions had no answer for their suburban counterparts on Friday, as Wheaton rolled to a dominant 5-0 victory. Janet Kondo and Alexandra Wachs earned their third-straight win at #3 doubles in today's opening fixture at a 6-2 line, before North Park claimed a 6-4 result at the first position to put the doubles point in the balance. Ella Malone and Tatum Thurstone fought off their Vikings opponents at #2 doubles to grind out a 7-5 victory and secure the first point of the match for Wheaton. The freshman-sophomore combo are an impressive 15-2 in their doubles contests this season and have won eight-consecutive matches at the #2 spot.

Malone and Kondo carried their strong form over into singles play this afternoon, as both players improved to a perfect 4-0 for the tournament with comfortable solo wins. The former posted a flawless double-bagel result at #4 singles, while the latter put the Thunder on the edge of victory with a 6-0, 6-2 win at #6 singles. Wheaton's last two points arrived simultaneously, as Madeline Gentry and Alexandra Wachs won their respective #1 and #2 singles battles by nearly identical 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2 outcomes to confirm the 5-0 shutout for the third-seeded team in the competition and set up tomorrow's meeting with the top seed.

North Central swept tournament host Millikin on Thursday and topped fourth-seeded Carthage, 4-1, this morning to punch its ticket to the championship match. The Cardinals have won five-consecutive CCIW regular season titles, sharing this year's with Wheaton and North Park, and the last three conference tournament championships. The Thunder will face a stiff test on Saturday against the side that has shut them out in their last two CCIW Championship matchups, but Wheaton has already earned one win over North Central this year, defeating its Naperville rival, 4-3, in October to snap NCC's 50-match win streak in conference contests. The winner of tomorrow's tournament final will continue its proud history of success and earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships.