PELLA, Iowa – The Loras College women's tennis traveled to Pella, Iowa to compete in the 2024 American Rivers Conference Individual Tournament this past weekend.
 
The Duhawks started the tournament with doubles action. In the A-Flight doubles bracket, Mary Breitbach and Dorothy Deans were granted a first-round bye as the brackets No. 2 seed. Unfortunately, the duo fell 6-1 in the next round to Sophia Fain and Alice Tysoe of Coe College.
 
In the B-Flight doubles action, Loras had two pairs competing. Caroline Hutchinson and Alexis Tatum paired up as well as the No. 2 seed of the bracket, Leia Papanicholas and Ellie Kalina. Hutchinson and Tatum started the day strong with a first-round victory over Marisa Rousu and Kendall Olson of Wartburg College. The duo came up short in the quarterfinal match against Cosette Gaines and Jaden Fuqua of Coe College, 6-4. However, Papanicholas and Kalina made a run on their side of the B-Flight bracket and would eventually meet this same Kohawk duo in the championship match. Papanicholas and Kalina came out on top with a 6-3 victory over Gaines and Fuqua, with the duo being crowned the 2024 B-Flight doubles champions.
 
Loras had Lauren Keiper and Elle Nguyen competing together in the C-Flight doubles bracket. The duo defeated their first-round opponents, Tatiana Ptaszek and Amelia Court of the University of Dubuque, 6-1. They then came up short in their quarterfinal match against Heather Leek and Lily Schreckengast of Wartburg College, falling 6-3.
 
Next, in singles play, the No. 3 seed of the bracket, Breitbach, was the lone Duhawk competing in the A-Flight singles. Breitbach defeated Tysoe of Coe College in the first round, 4-1, 1-4, 10-4. Unfortunately, her run in the bracket ended in the next round after being defeated by Jay Mascardo of Luther College, 4-2, 1-4, 3-10.
 
In the B-Flight singles, Loras had all three of its seniors competing in the bracket, Deans, Hutchinson, and Papanicholas, with Deans being granted the No. 4 seed in the bracket. Hutchinson fell in the first round to Schreckengast of Wartburg College, 1-4, 4-0, 8-10, while Papanicholas defeated her first-round opponent Kalina Schubert of Central College, 4-2, 4-0. She then defeated the No. 5 seed Ella Ford of Nebraska Wesleyan 4-2, 4-1. Papanicholas came up short in the quarterfinals match against Liselot Van Den Broek of Luther College, falling 4-0, 5-3. Deans was given a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed, and then faced Emma Murphy of Central College, defeating her 5-3, 4-2. The next round she defeated Schreckengast of Wartburg College, 4-2, 4-0. Saturday, in the semifinals, Deans held out against Anna Burt of Nebraska Wesleyan, 4-0, 1-4, 12-10, but ultimately fell in  the championship match against Van Den Broek, 4-1, 4-0 and was crowned the runner-up of the B-Flight singles bracket.
 
Ellie Kalina was the sole Duhawk competing in the C-Flight singles bracket. As the No. 3 seed, Kalina earned a first-round bye, she then defeated Giana Akins of Coe College, 4-0, 4-1. In the quarterfinals she defeated Abigail Peyman of Wartburg College, 4-0, 4-1. Then in the semis she took down Gaines of Coe College 4-1, 5-3. Kalina then fell in the championship match to Emily Blom of Central College and was crowned the runner-up of the C-Flight singles bracket.
 
Finally, Loras had three competitors in the D-Flight singles bracket, Keiper, Nguyen, and Tatum. Keiper and Tatum both earned seeds and therefore byes in the bracket, No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Nguyen fell in her first-round match to Isabella Castle of Coe College, 5-3, 4-0. After receiving a bye, Keiper defeated Sylvia Kamradt of Nebraska Wesleyan, 4-2, 4-2. She came up short in her quarterfinal match against Ella Engelhaupt of the University of Dubuque, losing 1-4, 4-2, 9-11. Finally, Tatum also received a first-round bye and then took on Court of the University of Dubuque, winning 5-3, 4-0. She then defeated Ella Swarts of Luther College in the quarterfinals, 4-1, 4-0. In the semis she faced off against Engelhaupt and won 4-1, 4-2. Tatum came up short in the championship match and lost to Kylie Flowers of Wartburg College, 5-3, 4-2 and was crowned the runner-up for the D-Flight singles bracket.

The Purple and Gold wrapped up their fall season with strong individual performances at the conference tournament. Duhawk tennis will be back in action in the spring.