Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder women's tennis team faced off against the Coe Kohawks on Saturday in the final regular season match for both squads. Coe entered the contest having won five consecutive matches and is ranked 62nd in the latest ITA Division III team poll. The American Rivers squad secured a 5-2 victory over the Thunder this afternoon.
Coe claimed two of today's three doubles matches, with Wheaton's lone win coming at No. 3 doubles, where
Mia Luo and
Carly O'Leary emerged victorious, 6-2.
The visitors continued their strong performance into singles play, winning four of the six matches.
Sophie Dew mounted a remarkable comeback to win at No. 5 singles, overcoming a 5-7 first-set defeat to win the following frame, 6-2, and claimed the resulting tiebreak game, 10-3. Luo maintained her momentum from the doubles win, earning a similar 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2) turnaround victory at the No. 6 spot to extend her perfect record in singles competition this season at 17-0.
With Saturday's result, Wheaton finishes the regular season with a 14-5 record, while Coe improves to 18-7. The Thunder will now shift their focus to the CCIW Tournament in Bloomington next week. After posting a 7-1 conference mark in the fall, the team earned a first-round bye as the competition's #2 seed and will face the winner of the Carthage-North Park quarterfinal match next Thursday. Wheaton's semifinal fixture is scheduled for 2 PM on Friday at the Evergreen Racquet Club.
