October 10, 2009

IOWA CITY, IOWA . . . Second-seeded Luther College, fueled by a sweep of three doubles matches, captured its record 24th Iowa Conference women's tennis title with a 5-1 win over three-time defending champion Coe College Saturday at the University of Iowa's Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center. It is the first title for Luther since 2005.

Luther seized control of the match during doubles, capped by a 9-8 (2) win at No. 2 by Alana Humpal and Katie Nichols to complete the sweep. Cami Czech extended the lead to 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sarah Ohlman at No. 6 singles, before freshman Michelle Schupbach put the Kohawks on the board with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Humpal at No. 4 singles. Kelsie Allen capped the title run for the Norse with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles.

Both Luther and Coe advanced to the final after 5-0 semifinal wins Saturday morning. Luther over Wartburg and Coe over Cornell. No. 3 seed Wartburg topped No. 5 Cornell, 5-2, for third place, while Central took fifth place with a 5-3 win over Loras. For the second consecutive season, the Dutch overcame a 2-1 deficit following doubles in the final match with four singles wins.

The Iowa Conference Women’s Tennis Individual Tournament will take place Oct. 16-17 at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex and Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Draws will be released early next week.

Complete results from the IIAC Women's Tennis Team Tournament can be found here.

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