Women's Tennis falls to No. 8 University of Chicago in Second Round of NCAA III Tournament
By: Andrew Korba
CHICAGO, Ill. — The Ohio Northern women's tennis capped off a record-setting season with a solid effort in a 5-0 loss to No. 8-ranked Chicago (Ill.) Saturday afternoon at the Stagg Field Courts.
The Polar Bears end their season with a school-record 27 wins against just five defeats.
The Maroons, last season's national runners-up and the top-ranked team in the Central Region, improve to 17-5 and advance to the Regional Finals against No. 26-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday at 1 pm.
"The ladies played with a lot of heart and hustle today," ONU head coach Scott Wills said. "I'm proud of the way they battled. We hung in there and had some opporunities for success against one of the best teams in the nation. The ladies did a great job of representing ONU. They had a great year both academically and on the court."
Junior Michelle Tuma and freshman Rachael Miller drew the toughest doubles opponent, facing the top-ranked team in the Central Region.
But Tuma and Miller proved they could play with the best, rallying from a 7-1 deficit with five consecutive games to pull within 7-6, before finally falling 8-6.
Sophomore Brittany Miller and freshman Taryn Stromback played well in an 8-5 loss at No. 2 doubles and junior Carly Olmstead and freshman Megan Letizia dropped an 8-1 decision at No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, Olmstead (No. 6) and Letizia (No. 3) were both very competitive, trailing just 6-4, 1-1 and 7-5, 1-1, respectively, when play was stopped when Chicago reached the necessary five team points.
Letizia set a single-season school record with 50 overall wins, tied the school record with 26 doubles wins and led the team with 24 singles wins.
Brittany Miller (22-4) and Stromback (22-8) tied for second in singles wins.
In doubles play, Tuma was second on the team at 25-13 and Brittany Miller was third at 23-9.
Overall, Brittany Miller was second behind Letizia with a 47-13 record and Tuma was third at 43-29.