The Lake Forest College women's tennis team completed the fall portion of its 2012-13 schedule at the Midwest Conference Singles Championship Tournaments in Madison, Wisconsin, on Sunday. The Foresters' top performance on the day belonged to senior Melika Celebic, who was the runner-up at #1.
Celebic defeated the top player from Illinois College 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Grinnell College's best 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her third championship match in as many years of collegiate competition. She was unable to capture her third #1 singles title, however, and fell 6-3 in both sets to Carroll University.
Celebic will enter the team's nine-match spring season ranked tied-for-third in team history with 88 career victories overall and fourth with 45 singles wins and 43 doubles triumphs. She became the program's leader with 40 career #1 doubles wins on Saturday and she needs just three more victories at the top spot in the singles lineup to break that record as well.
Three other Foresters reached the semifinals in their respecitve flights. Freshman Christi Valicenti posted a 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal victory at #2 but fell 6-4, 6-3 to the eventual champion from Carroll in the semifinals. Junior Aimee Fadden prevailed 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) in the quarterfinals but dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision to the #4 player from Cornell College in the next round. Sophomore Gracie Mullins, who was 4-0 in singles and doubles combined during Friday's team tournament and won three more times to claim a conference title at #2 doubles on Saturday, won 6-0, 6-1 against Illinois College in the quarterfinals but saw her perfect weekend come to an end when Grinnell's #5 player defeated her 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals on Sunday.
Valicenti won a team-high 15 singles matches and 30 contests overall in the fall. Celebic was next with a dozen singles wins and 15 more as Valicenti's doubles partner. Mullins and freshman Grace Dowling were a team-best 17-4 in doubles competition. Forester players posted a .625 winning percentage in singles and a .688 mark in doubles.
Lake Forest's first opponent of 2013 will be Mount Union University on March 11 during the team's Spring Break trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina.