October 18, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) crowned champions in five individual flights (three singles and two doubles) Saturday at the Conference Women’s Tennis Individual Flighted Tournament. The Conference also announced the 2008 IIAC Women’s Tennis All-Conference Team. The Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year will be announced fon Tuesday, October 21.

Flight A singles 2007 runner-up Hannah Jensen of Coe capture the title. Jensen defeated Wartburg's Molly Eslick, 6-1, 6-2, in the semifinals before topping Luther's Kelsie Allen, 6-3, 6-0, in the championship match. Allen advanced to the final with a 6-2, 6-0 victory in her semifinal match with Central's Hilary Baehr. Baehr defeated Eslick, 6-1, 7-6 (2), for third place.

Simpson's Alissa Nance captured the title in Flight B singles, needing a third set to top Central's Emily Swartz, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (5). Nance advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Luther's Laura Reutlinger, while Swartz topped Luther's Katie Patterson by a 6-2, 6-2 score. Patterson won the all-Norse third-place match, 6-3, 6-1.

Flight C singles saw an all-Simpson championship match-up pitting Gwen Kingsbury against Lynae Gruber. Kingsbury prevailed, 6-1, 6-0. In the third-place match, Central's Brigitte Newman topped Dubuque's Jacqueline Ventrice, 6-0, 6-2.

In Flight A doubles, Jensen and Katy Delagardelle posted wins over Central tandems in both the semifinals and final to take the title and give Jensen a second championship on the day. In the semifinals, the Coe duo defeated Faith Bliss and Kayla Donner, 8-5, then topped Hilary Baehr and Stephanie Gibbons by an 8-2 margin. Baehr/Gibbons advanced to the final with a hard-fought 8-6 win over Luther's Brynne Zinnecker and Kelsie Allen. Zinnecker/Allen beat Bliss/Donner, 8-2, for third place.

Central's Katie Williamson and Emily Swartz captured the Flight B doubles crown with an 8-5 win over Luther's Sara Dale and Katie Patterson. Dale and Patterson defeated Cornell's Annabelle Milliken and Amanda Johnson 8-3 in one semifinal, while Williamson and Swartz topped Simpson’s Alissa Nance and Jackie Suckow 8-5 in the other. The Cornell tandem captured third place with an 8-4 victory.

Complete results from the two-day Individual Flighted Tournament are here.

All-Conference: The quarterfinalists in Flight A singles and the semifinalists in Flight A doubles are recognized as All-Conference. The 2008 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis All-Conference Team are here.

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