Women's Tennis News Releases
Middleton improves to 5-2 in singles play
Coming up - Thursday, Sept. 17, vs. St. Ambrose, Mount Vernon, 4 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 19, at Lake Forest, Chicago, Ill., 9 a.m., at Olivet Nazarene, Bourbonnais, Ill., 3 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 20, at North Central, Naperville, Ill., 10 a.m.
Ram rewind - Cornell picked up its first win of the fall, outdueling UW-Stevens Point, 5-4, Friday night in Mount Vernon. The Rams dropped two matches Saturday in Decorah, 6-3 to UW-Eau Claire and 8-1 to perennial Iowa Conference power Luther.
Freshman Kara Middleton (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) continued her strong play with a pair of wins against UW-Stevens Point. Her 6-0, 6-4 triumph at No. 5 singles was her fifth consecutive singles win to start the season. She teamed with freshman Alyssa Zavislak (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) for a win at No. 3 doubles.
Cornell (1-6 overall, 0-3 IIAC) also received singles wins against UW-Stevens Point (4-1) from Kirsten Lasley (St. Paul, Minn./Saddlebrook) and Amanda Johnson (North Branch, Minn./North Branch Area) while the tandem of Samantha De Gannes (Diego Martin, Trinidad/International School Port of Spain) and Caryl Abeyta (Eaton, Colo./Eaton) prevailed at No. 1 doubles.
Lasley scored two of the team's three wins against UW-Eau Claire. She won on a third-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles and joined Abeyta for a win at No. 1 doubles. Zavislak was also victorious at No. 4 singles.
Zavislak recorded Cornell's lone victory at Luther, winning 7-5, 7-5 at No. 4 singles.
Team leaders - Middleton leads the Rams in singles wins with a 5-2 mark at the No. 5 spot in the lineup. Lasley (4-3) and Zavislak (4-3) also have winning records in singles play.
In doubles, Abeyta and De Gannes are 2-2 at the No. 1 position.
Wins list - Abeyta enters this week of play with 98 career victories. With four scheduled matches this week, she'll try to become the 10th women's tennis player in school history to reach the 100-win milestone.
Luther 8, Cornell 1 (Sept. 12, at Decorah)
Singles - Fran Fairfield (Lut) def. Samantha De Gannes 6-0, 6-4; Katie Nicholas (Lut) def. Caryl Abeyta 6-4, 6-3; Cami Czech (Lut) def. Kirsten Lasley 6-3, 6-2; Alyssa Zavislak (Cor) def. Cassandra Chalhoub 7-5, 7-5; Meghan Williams (Lut) def. Kara Middleton 2-6, 6-3, 12-10; Katy Lindstrom (Lut) def. Amanda Johnson 6-0, 6-2. Doubles - Kelsie Allen/Brynne Zinnecker (Lut) def. Abeyta/Lasley 8-4; Fran Fairfield/Lindstrom (Lut) def. De Gannes/Johnson 6-0, 6-2; Elise Allen/ Czech (Lut) def. Middleton/Zavislak 8-1
UW-Eau Claire 6, Cornell College 3 (Sept. 12, at Decorah)
Singles -- Gina Dahl (UW) def. De Gannes 6-1, 6-1; Megan Born (UW) def. Abeyta 6-3, 6-3; Lasley (Cor) def. Brenna McCormick 6-2, 2-6, 10-5; Zavislak (Cor) def. Erin Welch 6-4, 1-6, 10-7; Taylor Heltne (UW) def. Middleton 6-0, 6-1; Gretchen Bachmeier (UW) def. Johnson 6-1, 6-3; Doubles - Abeyta/Lasley (Cor) def. Dahl/Courtney Lynne 8-6, McCormick/Welch (UW) def. De Gannes/Johnson 8-1; Heltne/Hiebl (UW) def. Middleton/Zavislak 8-0.
Cornell 5, UW-Stevens Point 4 (Sept. 11, at Mount Vernon)
Singles - Rachel Benn (UW) def. De Gannes 6-3, 4-6, 10-5; Chelsea Allbaugh (UW) def. Abeyta 6-2, 7-6, 7-0; Lasley (Cor) def. Emily Riordan (UW) 6-4, 6-0; Kaylei Sorensen (UW) def. Zavislak 6-4, 6-4; Middleton (Cor) def. Monica Preisig 6-0, 6-4; Johnson (Cor) def, Allison Fortier (UW) 7-6 (14-12), 6-2; Doubles - De Gannes/Abeyta (Cor) def. Benn/Allbaugh 8-6; Riordan/Kaitlyn King (UW) def. Lasley/Johnson 8-5; Zavislak/Middleton (Cor) def. Sorensen/Preisig 8-3.
