Pioneers gain revenge on Foresters while gaining inside track in MWC championship race

Grinnell 9, Beloit 0
Grinnell 6, Lake Forest 3

GRINNELL, Iowa - Grinnell College's women's tennis team lost twice to Lake Forest College last season, both in critical matches.

But the Pioneers turned the tables on the Foresters Saturday, rolling up five singles victories to rally for a 6-3 win in the Bear Center Field House. Grinnell remained unbeaten at 5-0 in both the Midwest Conference and overall to gain the inside track in the league championship race. The win was Grinnell's 32nd in its last 33 league matches, dating back to 2015. The preseason league favorite Foresters suffered their first loss of the season, falling to 4-1 in the MWC and 7-1 overall.

Grinnell fell behind 2-1 through doubles play, with the Pioneers' win coming at the second position as Sabrina Tang '23 and Sophia de los Reyes '23 posted an 8-5 decision.

But it was a different story in singles, as the Pioneers sailed to straight-set wins at the first through third spots and added three-set wins at Nos. 4 and 5. In the top three flights, Grinnell's wins came from Tang (6-3, 6-0), Abby Nielsen '21 (6-0, 6-0) and Ali Hickey '21 (6-2, 6-3).

De los Reyes clinched the win for the Pioneers with her 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 decision at No. 4 singles. Rounding out the singles wins was Izzy Green '22 at No. 5 with a 4-6, 6-2, 10-2 decision.

Earlier in the day, the Pioneers were able to play outside at the Grinnell Tennis Complex and posted a 9-0 shutout over Beloit College. Doubles winners for Grinnell were Tang-de los Reyes (8-1), Brenda Guan '20-Green (8-4) and Sara Amano '22-Mamie Sevier '23 (8-0). Singles wins came from Nielsen (6-0, 6-0), Tang (6-0, 6-0), de los Reyes (6-0, 6-0), Green (6-1, 6-2), Sevier (6-1, 6-1) and Amano (6-1, 6-2).

"It was a great team effort today," said Grinnell coach Paige Madara. "We battled against strong doubles teams and Sabrina/Sophia pulled out a key victory for us at No. 2. Then our singles really got to work and battled. I am so proud of how this team handled adversity and fought together as a team to defeat the defending Midwest Conference champs and a team that had the better of us last year.

"Abby had a great clinical victory over a tough opponent," Madara added. "Ali battled in her comeback from injury to win a tough match. Sabrina defeated a top player in the conference with dominating confidence. Sophia's gritty tough third set win to clinch the victory with quiet confidence was so great to see so early in her college career. Izzy and Emma added two more battles for us to wrap up a successful day of conference play."

During the day's action, NIelsen moved up to eighth on Grinnell's career singles wins chart with 53. Guan is 17th in career doubles wins with 48.

The Pioneers travel to St. Peter, Minn., next weekend for the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament.

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Players Mentioned

Brenda Guan: Junior

Ali Hickey: Sophomore

Abby Nielsen: Sophomore

Sara Amano: First-Year

Izzy Green: First-Year

Sophia de los Reyes: First-Year

Mamie Sevier: First-Year

Sabrina Tang: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Brenda Guan
: Junior

Ali Hickey
: Sophomore

Abby Nielsen
: Sophomore

Sara Amano
: First-Year

Izzy Green
: First-Year

Sophia de los Reyes
: First-Year

Mamie Sevier
: First-Year

Sabrina Tang
: First-Year