Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
DECATUR, Ill. (Sept. 12, 2026) – After falling in its first contest of the season, the North Central College women's tennis team bounced back to even its record with a tight 4-3 victory over College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) opponent Millikin University on Saturday in Decatur, Illinois.
All four of the Cardinals' points came from the top four spots in the singles lineup, helping them squeak out the victory.
The doubles team of Berkley Klarich and Kate Herlihy got its first win of the year, defeating their opponents 6-4, but that would be the lone doubles victory for the Cardinals, as Millikin (3-3, 0-1 CCIW) would win the number two and number three matches to clinch the point. Anais Gerard and Alexandra Zaskowski fell 7-5 in their contest, while Abby Heintz and Meghan McSweeney lost in the number three slot 6-2.
Klarich got her first singles win as a Cardinal, doing so from the number one spot. She won 12 of the 13 games played in her match, taking the first set 6-1 and blanking her opponent in the next set 6-0. Herlihy won similarly, taking 12 of the 14 games she played, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 in the number two slot.
Zaskowski lost the first set of her match 6-2 in the number five singles match before bouncing back in the second to win by the same score (6-2). She fell in the decisive third set, however, losing 6-3.
Gerard gave North Central (1-1, 1-1) a 3-2 advantage in the dual with a straight-set victory, winning the number four slot 6-0, 6-3. Millikin got its third point from a win in the number six spot, defeating Heintz 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets.
McSweeney clinched the match for the Cardinals from the number three singles slot. She won two nail-biting sets that required extra games, but got the job done for the Cardinals, clinching the game-winning fourth point in the dual with her 7-5, 7-5 victory.
The Cardinals' next match was originally scheduled for Monday against Elmhurst, but that match has been postponed to a date to be announced later. As a result, the Cardinals have 11 days until their next match, a road dual with Wheaton on September 23.
