Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Box Score
Sept. 25, 2019 – For just the second time in the 41-year history of the North Central College women's tennis program, the Cardinals have taken down College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Carthage College, as a clean sweep of doubles play propelled the Cardinals to a 6-3 defeat of the Lady Reds at Nike Park.
Entering the match 1-35 all-time against Carthage, the Cardinals (7-1, 5-1 CCIW) opened with a 3-0 lead after doubles play, in what proved to be the difference in the match.
Hannah Hougland and
Alaina Kanthaphixay improved to 6-0 in conference play with a decisive 8-1 victory over Giana Apostoli and Jen Ptak at the No. 1 position.
Katie McGraw and
Linsy Jante then followed with a 8-5 win over Sam Ramsey and Rachel Anderson at No. 2, before
Ellie Gallagher and
Yaitova Spiegel fought out a tough 8-6 win over Nia Pham and Sierra Sonnemaker at the No. 3 spot to give North Central the all-important 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Jante really put the pressure on the Lady Reds (1-2, 1-2 CCIW) with a quick 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles over Anderson, but Carthage refused to go down without a fight, cutting the lead in half with a pair of wins at each of the No. 2 and 3 positions.
At the No. 1 position, Hougland squared off with Apostoli, the reigning CCIW Player of the Week, and came away with a difficult 7-5 first-set win, before clinching the match win for North Central with an easier 6-3 win in the second.
For good measure, Gallagher closed the scoring with a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Sonnemaker at the No. 6 spot, capping off the match with a 6-3 final score.
With nearly a week before hitting the court again, North Central will hit the road for the first of four-straight matches, traveling to Elmhurst College on Tuesday, Oct. 1 with start time scheduled for 3 p.m. at Brune Tennis Courts.
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