Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. (Mar. 1, 2020) – Returning to the court for the first time this spring season, the North Central College women's tennis team picked up where they left off in the fall with a 9-0 shutout over Oglethorpe University on Sunday at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Campus.

The Cardinals (9-2) took the lead right off the bat as Sydney Sawyer and Linsy Jante won by default at the No. 2 doubles position.  Katie McGraw and Ellie Gallagher followed with a 8-2 defeat of Alyssa Merletti and Brooke Dotson at the No. 3 spot, before Hannah Hougland and Alaina Kanthaphixay completed the doubles sweep with a 8-4 win over Hannah Dattilo and Ela Bielicki atop the lineup.

In singles play, North Central wasted no time in clinching the match win as Jante made quick work of Alexis Salgueiro in straight 6-0 sets at the No. 5 position, before Hougland sealed the match victory for North Central with a 6-3, 6-1 showing over Dattilo at top spot.

Kanthaphixay followed suit with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Bielicki at No. 2, ahead of Morgan House who took down Dotson, 6-2, 7-6 at No. 6.  After dropping the first set 6-4, McGraw bounced back nicely to defeat Merletti in a hard fought 7-6, 10-7 battle at the No. 4 position, while Sawyer closed out the day with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kendall Kramer at No. 3 to earn her first victory as a Cardinal.

North Central returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 2 with a pair of matches at Sanlando Park, opening with Concordia College (Minnesota) at 12 p.m. (ET), before taking on Houghton College (New York) in the nightcap at 6 p.m. (ET).

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