DECORAH—Facing the American Rivers Conference regular season champions on their home courts, the Central College women's tennis team was defeated 5-0 by Luther College in the league's tournament semifinals.
           
Central ends its season at 7-5 overall. Luther (11-4) plays in the title match Saturday.
            "
We started off at one level and then as the day progressed we played at a higher level,"  coach Ryun Ferrell said. "There was no quit in this team, they fought really hard."
           
Karleigh Schilling (senor, Swisher, Cedar Rapids Prairie HS) and Alyssa Lewton (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) played the tightest doubles match of the night, falling 8-4 at No. 1
           
Bronwyn Metcalf (junior, Pella) and Maddie Hartley (junior, Clarinda) lost 8-2 at No. 2 and Alex Griggs (sophomore, Knoxville) and Sarah Schirm (junior, Cedar Rapids, Xavier HS) lost 8-3 at No. 3
           
Metcalf lost 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles and Katie Larson (junior, Fort Madison) was defeated 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles.
           
The lone senior in Central's lineup, Schilling played the final match of her career.
           
"She's one of the nicest players you could ever coach," Ferrell said. "She'll be doing amazing things in the near future. We're sad to see her go but we're excited for her. It's a bittersweet moment."
           
On the flip side, Central returns five of its singles players and two of its three doubles pairings.
            "
We're going to be really deep for a really long time," "We had a nice group of freshmen come in this year and we've got another good class coming in next year. I think we're going to be solid for quite awhile."