Lake Forest College hosted the Illinois Handball Association Women's Singles Tournament over the weekend (November 13-14). Eight current Foresters and fvie Forester alumni were part of the 17-player field.
Senior Aimee Ulbert (Des Plaines, Ill.) was the event's runner-up for the fourth straight season after defeating sophomore Maria Dugas (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 21-4, 21-11 in the semifinals and falling to Megan Mehilos, a 2004 graduate of the College, 21-10, 18-21, 11-5 in the championship match. It was the first time Ulbert was able to win a game against Mehilos, who won the event for the eighth time in a row.
"I was extremely proud of the way Amy competed against Megan," began Lake Forest coach Mike Dau. "After winning the second game she fell behind 7-0 in the third. However, instead of just being satisfied with one game, she continued battling and actually outscored Megan 5-4 the rest of the way."
Dugas and Forester senior Emily Zender (Fishers, Ind.) finished third and fourth, respectively. They both won a pair of matches before falling in the semifinals. Dugas then defeated Zender 21-12, 21-14 in the third-place match.
Junior Sarah Brusig () fell to Zender in round one. She then prevailed twice in the B-Division, including a hard-fought 21-20, 19-21, 11-3 triumph in the semifinals, before losing in the final.
Fellow junior Bianca Greene (Santa Monica, Calif.) defeated classmate Emma Swanson () 21-20, 21-9 in the C-Division semifinals and sophomore Ann Szutenbach () 21-18, 21-12 to claim the division's title. Szutenbach had won 21-14, 21-14 in her semifinals and Swanson went on to take the division's third-place match 21-16, 21-7.
Lake Forest will host the Illinois Handball Association Contenders Tournament next weekend (November 20-21). "We have the largest field in the history of the tournament," notes Coach Dau. "There will be some challenges in putting together the brackets but I'm looking forward to the event."
