Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Oct. 2, 2021 – The Loras College women's tennis team (3-4, 2-3 A-R-C) split a pair of American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) matches on Saturday, opening the day with a 6-3 win against Simpson College (2-4, 2-3 A-R-C) before dropping an 8-1 decision at the hands of the Central College Dutch (8-5, 6-0 A-R-C) in the afternoon.

In the first match of the day against the Storm, the Duhawks had the added support of the alumni gathered near the tennis courts for Homecoming festivities. Loras took a commanding 3-0 lead in doubles play with Lauren Diiulio and Isabel Schwabe defeating Anna Wanek and Kennedi Wright, 8-2, at the No. 1 position, Sara Backus and Dorothy Deans defeating Emily King and Donni Kinghorn, 8-2, in the No. 2 match and Clair Moore and Alex Oestreich coming away with a hard-fought 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles.

Backus kept the momentum rolling with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles against Kinghorn but Simpson halted the run with a win at the No. 1 position. Deans put the Duhawks back on track with a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles against Wright to seal the win and despite the Storms' efforts with a win at No. 2 and No. 6 singles, Moore outlasted Megan Grubb at No. 3 singles for a marathon 6-4, 3-6, 11-9 victory to put the finishing touch on the match.

The Duhawks came up against a tough matchup in the second match of the day as the Dutch entered Tucker Tennis Courts with an undefeated A-R-C record. Backus and Deans took Bronwyn Metcalf and Jennifer Larson to the limits in the No. 2 match but fell short, 8-7, and Moore and Oestreich had a strong showing at No. 3 doubles against Katie Larson and Sarah Schirm but dropped the decision, 8-6. Schwabe grabbed a win for Loras at No. 2 singles, defeating Alyssa Letwon 6-4, 7-5 but the Dutch held on to take the remaining matches. Backus and Oestreich both showed resiliency at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively, taking both matches to the tiebreaker.

The Duhawks' take a break from conference action with a match against St. Ambrose University on Oct. 5, hosting the Bees at the Tucker Tennis Courts at 3:30 P.M.