Kohler, Wis. - Buoyed by their 2-1 performance in doubles competition, the number three seed Illinois Tech women's tennis team carried that momentum into singles play, winning the first three singles matches to complete the upset of top-seeded Edgewood College 5-1 Sunday morning. The win gave the Scarlet Hawks their first NACC Tournament Championship, and more importantly earned the team the automatic conference qualifier into the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships. The Scarlet Hawks also improved to 16-5 overall on the season. The Eagles finished the season 12-7 overall.
The tournament championship represents a significant milestone for Head Coach Kris Powell and the women's tennis program. Edgewood had won the last four regular season NACC titles, and were unbeaten in conference play over that span. Number two seed Concordia Wisconsin, who the Hawks defeated in the semifinals, was 8-1 in conference play this season, and were the tournament winners last season. The Falcons had won the NACC regular season title the three years prior to Edgewood's run. Over the last ten seasons completed, the Eagles and the Falcons had won a combined nine of the last ten NACC Tournament titles.
The Hawks made their presence known in the championship match by capturing the doubles competition 2-1. The number one doubles team of Morgan Colbert and Kylie Hance defeated Cecile Fuchs and Ally Verbauwhede of Edgewood 8-3. The number three doubles pair of Mouna Chahin and Saumya Sukhthankar defeated Maddy Coopmans and Madelyn Connaughty 8-2. The Eagles lone victory in doubles, and in the entire match, was the number two team of Ellie Murphy and Jewel Lindwall, as they defeated Illinois Tech's Natalie Hamill and Allyson Trang 8-2.
In singles play, Colbert won the number one singles match against Fuchs 6-1, 7-6, with set two going to the tie-breaker. Hance defeated Edgewood's Verbauwhede 6-2, 6-3 in the number three singles match. And Mouna Chahin bested Connaughty 6-4, 6-1 in the number six singles match. Those three match victories, coupled with their 2-1 performance in doubles, provided the Scarlet Hawks with the necessary five win total to secure the tournament championship. The matches for Hamill(#2), Sukhthankar(#4) and Trang(#5) were left unfinished once the Hawks earned the fifth and deciding win.
The Scarlet Hawks will now await the official announcement from the NCAA on Monday, May 9th regarding their first round region, seeding and opponent. First round play is expected to start on May 12th.