Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Box Score
Oct. 11, 2018 – On a historic day at the NCC Tennis Courts,
Diana Barcelata became the first player in program history to go unbeaten through College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play at the No. 1 singles position in the North Central College women's tennis team's 9-0 thumping of North Park University on Thursday afternoon.
Barcelata turned in a perfect 8-0 record in conference play this season, taking down the top player on each of the conference opponent's roster, capping it with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Linn Viuhkonen on Thursday.
The Cardinals (7-3, 5-3 CCIW) claimed all three doubles positions to take a commanding 3-0 lead early, as Barcelata and
Morgan House took down Lisa Viuhkonen and Grace Pavlak, 8-2 at the No. 2 position to get North Central on the board.
At No. 3,
Katie McGraw and
Tiffany Smolik teamed up to defeat McKenzie Harrison and Mallory Trudeau, 8-3, while
Hannah Hougland and
Alaina Kanthaphixay completed the doubles sweep with a 8-2 win over Linn Viuhkonen and Asmina Brahimi at No. 1.
In singles play, Kanthaphixay and House each turned in straight 6-0 wins at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, to clinch the match win for North Central. Hougland continued the Cardinal dominance at No. 2, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lisa Viuhkonen, while McGraw made quick work of Pavlak, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 5 position.
After Barcelata's victory at No. 1, Smolik capped the scoring with a comeback thriller over Harrison, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5.
North Central wraps up the regular season slate on Saturday, Oct. 13, hosting Olivet Nazarene University at Five Star Tennis with matches scheduled for 5 p.m.
