Falcons fall in NACC finals

MADISON, Wis. – The CUW women's tennis team battled hard through two matches on Sunday. The Falcons rallied to defeat Illinois Tech in the NACC Semifinals, 5-4. The Falcons streak of three-straight NACC Tournament titles was snapped with a 5-1 loss to Edgewood. The Blue and White closed the season with a 15-8 record.

The Scarlet Hawks struck first in the semifinals with an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles.

The duo of freshman Ricki Budewitz (Watertown, Wis.) and senior Bailey Kelly (Racine, Wis.) brought out the brooms on court two with an 8-0 sweep over Sophia Nelson and Kaitlyn Graves.

Illinois Tech held a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play with an 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles.

The Scarlet Hawks pushed the lead to 3-1 with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles.

Junior Emma Sievers (Slinger, Wis.) stopped the skid at No. 5 singles, with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Kaitlyn Graves.

Freshman Elizabeth Johnson (Hubertus, Wis.) tied the match at court six. Topping Allyson Trang, 6-4, 6-4.

Junior Rebekah Spiegelhoff (Mount Pleasant, Wis.) battled at No. 4 singles to give the Falcons the lead. Spiegelhoff took the first set, 7-6, after downing Sophia Nelson in the tiebreaker, 7-2. The CUW freshman then clinched the second set, 6-4.

IIT tied the match on court two with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Bailey Kelly advanced the Falcons to the finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kylie Hance.

The Falcons opened the championship match on a bumpy start in doubles play.

Edgewood took a 3-0 lead after the doubles competition. The closest court was an 8-6 battle put up at No. 2 doubles by Bailey Kelly and Ricki Budewitz.

The Eagles pushed the lead to 4-0 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 5 singles.

Senior Ashley Solberg (Waukesha, Wis.) earned the lone CUW point with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sydney Verbauwhede at No. 1 singles.

The Eagles clinched the match with a victory at No. 3 singles.

The CUW senior class finish their careers with 72 victories.