WAVERLY, Iowa (April 18, 2023) – The postseason got off to a rousing start for the Loras College women's tennis team as the fifth-seeded Duhawks upset the fourth-seeded Wartburg College Knights 5-1 in the first round of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament on Tuesday afternoon.

The Duhawks (14-6) went just 4-4 in regular season conference action during the fall, which included a 5-4 home loss to the Knights (13-11) back in late September. This time around, it was the Duhawks who were first to five match wins to move on in the conference tournament.

All three doubles matches truly could have gone either way on Tuesday, but all three Loras pairings managed to survive in tiebreakers as each match finished with an 8-7 score. At ones, seniors Isabel Schwabe and Lauren Diiulio prevailed 8-7 (9-7) while the score at twos was the exact same with senior Sara Backus and sophomore Dorothy Deans pulling off the victory.  

Threes was just as close with the Loras pairing of sophomores Caroline Hutchinson and Leia Papanicholas pulling out a hard fought 8-7 (7-3 victory), which gave the Duhawks a massive amount of breathing room heading to singles with a 3-0 lead.

With a narrow sweep at doubles, the Duhawks needed to claim just two singles matches, and they did just that as Diiulio was victorious at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Natalie Kaiser. Papanicholas prevailed in her No. 4 singles match by a 6-4, 6-4 score over Reese Williams to clinch the postseason match.

With three unfinished matches, the only loss for the Duhawks came from Schwabe at No. 1 singles as Wartburg's Meadow LaDuke claimed the battle 6-1, 6-4.

Loras' upset sends the Duhawks on to the tournament's semifinal round for the second season in a row as they now will get set to face top-seeded Luther College on Thursday, April 20, at 4 P.M. in Decorah, Iowa. In their 21^st matchup in the series history, the Duhawks will be searching for their first ever win over the Norse.