McKenny’s Singles Win Pushes Women's Tennis Past Olivet Nazarene

(photo credit: Judith Rackow)
(photo credit: Judith Rackow)

CHICAGO, Ill. – The upstart Illinois Tech women's tennis team faced its toughest test of the young season on Labor Day as the Olivet Nazarene University Tigers made the trip up Interstate 57.  A #6 singles win for Alison McKenny broke a 4-4 tie, allowing the Scarlet Hawks to edge ONU 5-4 and move to 4-0 on the season. The Tigers, playing for the first time in 2018, dropped to 0-1.

How it Happened

  • Tech jumped out to a lead in doubles against to the NAIA scholarship school. The duo of Weronika Halicka and Morgan Colbert remained unbeaten with an 8-3 win over Susana A. Martinez and Dana Huck.
  • In #2 doubles, the freshman tandem of Kylie Hance and Kailtyn Graves followed suit with an 8-4 victory against Anna Belschner and Grace Matheis.
  • Singles saw Halicka (#1) and Colbert (#2) remain unbeaten on the year as well, with Halicka downing a very tough Martinez 6-0, 6-3 and Colbert taking care of Huck 7-6 (4-0, 6-1).
  • The first five singles matches to finish were the first through fifth spots, creating the picture of a 4-4 tie with #6 still left to finish. In what Head Coach Erik Scanlan characterized as a "very clutch performance", McKenny downed ONU's Maddie Holdren 6-0, 7-5 to hold off the Tigers.

Up Next

  • Conference play begins on Saturday, September 8 up in Wisconsin. Tech will face some of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference's top teams, squaring off against NACC Tourney Qualifier Wisconsin Lutheran College at 10:00 a.m. and defending champion Concordia University Wisconsin at 2:00 p.m.