DECATUR, ILL. — The American Rivers Conference season got off to a fantastic start for the Central College women's tennis team as the Dutch swept Nebraska Wesleyan University 9-0 Saturday morning.
In non-conference action later in the afternoon, Central (4-2) fell 5-4 to the Concordia University (Neb.) Bulldogs (1-0).
"Today was a great day," coach
Ryun Ferrell said. "We took care of business in our conference match. Against a very veteran and disciplined Concordia team, we had chances to win. That match could have gone our way 6-3 very fast."
Central won all six singles matches in straight sets against the Prairie Wolves, but it was a nail-biting first set in sophomore
Laurynn Mize's (Sycamore, Ill.) 7-6, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles that Ferrell took note of.
"Mize stepped up nicely," Ferrell said. "Her opponent hits the ball really hard and flat. Her opponent got hot in the beginning but she came back to win. It was neat to watch her compete that way."
Jenna Stewart (senior, Burlington, Notre Dame HS), Sarah Schirm (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Xavier HS) and
Madison Krumm (junior, Grinnell) all went 2-0 in singles on the day. Stewart was at No. 2 while Schirm and Krumm played No. 4 and No. 6 respectively.
The No. 1 doubles pairing of Stewart and
Karleigh Schilling (sophomore, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) also recorded a 2-0 mark.
The Dutch will play in Waverly at Wartburg College on Saturday and in Decorah at Luther College on Sunday, making it a key weekend on the schedule for the Dutch according to Ferrell. The Dutch will play Wartburg at 3 p.m. and Luther at 9 a.m.
