Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Sept. 27, 2026) - The North Central College women's tennis program was represented by four student-athletes at this weekend's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Championships hosted at Kalamazoo College, which began on Friday and concluded Sunday. Anais Gerard, Berkley Klarich, Kate Herlihy and Meghan McSweeney competed in both singles and doubles competitions, with Herlihy's run to the consolation semifinal highlighting the Cardinals' weekend performances.
The Cardinals turned in a 1-2 mark as a program in doubles play. The team of McSweeney and Gerard was defeated 8-4 in the round of 64, while the team of Klarich and Herlihy earned a round of 64 win, 8-1. However, the duo could not parlay that success into another win, falling 8-2 in the round of 32.
The Cardinals posted a 7-6 record in singles play, with Klarich and McSweeney advancing from the round of 128 to the round of 64 in the main bracket.
Klarich played a thrilling match in her round-of-128 matchup. After losing the opening set on a tiebreak, 7-6 (8-6), she bounced back to dominate the second set of play, cruising to a 6-1 win and setting up a thrilling third-set tiebreaker. Klarich won the race to 10, claiming the decisive third set 1-0 (10-8) to advance into the round of 64.
She found herself in another thriller in the round of 64. After losing the opening set 6-1, Klarich came back to dominate the second set, just as she did in her previous match, winning this one in a sweep (6-0). She wasn't able to take the third set in this match, however, falling 1-0 (10-6) to end her weekend of singles competition.
McSweeney dominated her opening singles match. She claimed a straight-sets victory over her opponent from Kalamazoo: 6-2, 6-2. McSweeney was then matched up with one of the best players in the region: Ally Lin of Washington University in St. Louis. Despite McSweeney's efforts, she suffered a straight-set
Gerard turned in an impressive weekend after falling in her round of 128 contest. 6-2, 6-2.
She found her footing in the consolation round of 32. She won 12 of the 15 games played in the match, coasting to a 6-2, 6-1 win. In the consolation round of 16, Gerard found a way to improve upon her previous result, winning 12 of 13 games against her opponent from Hope College, advancing to the consolation quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-0 win.
Gerard's momentum slowed in the quarterfinal match, as another top regional player, Sydney Wszolek of Denison University, defeated Gerard 6-1, 6-2, stalling Gerard's run through the consolation bracket.
Herlihy followed a similar path to Gerard. She, too, dropped her round of 128 match in the main bracket. Herlihy saw the first set slip 7-5, but she bounced back with a 6-2 second set win. Then, in the third set, Herlihy played one of the tightest sets of the weekend, but she came up on the losing side of it, falling 1-0 (11-9).
After getting a win in the consolation round of 32 by way of injury retirement, Herlihy dominated the consolation round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-1 straight-sets victory. She was then matched up with a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) foe, Amber Ehrlich of Illinois Wesleyan University. Herlihy continued to roll, defeating Ehrlich 6-4, 6-1 to advance to Sunday play and the consolation semifinals.
Wszolek, after her defeat of Herlihy in the consolation quarterfinal, took on a Cardinal for the second consecutive round in the semifinal, getting matched up with Herlihy on Sunday. Herlihy was unable to avenge Gerard's loss, as her bid for a consolation championship was cut short in the semifinals by Wszolek, 6-3, 6-2.
After the weekend, Herlihy stands at 5-3 in singles play this season to lead the Cardinals, while Gerard is right on her heels with a 4-3 mark.
North Central resumes CCIW play on Tuesday at 4 p.m. against Illinois Wesleyan at a location in the Naperville area to be announced later.
