The Lake Forest College women's tennis team improved to 16-1 overall and 4-0 this spring by defeating Heidelberg University and Baldwin Wallace University by the same 7-2 score on Wednesday in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Sophomore Christi Valicenti was 4-0 in singles and doubles combined on the day and leads the Foresters with 27 wins this year.
Valicenti and freshman Lexi Chionis began their day by defeating the top doubles team from Heidelberg 8-6 to give Lake Forest a 2-1 lead in the match. Sophomore Sarah Paulson and senior Lucy-George Cooper prevailed 8-2 at #2 doubles and the Student Princes won at #3.
Due to inclement weather, the teams played shortened singles matches.
Paulson posted a 10-2 victory at #1 singles and senior Elina Shapiro's 10-6 triumph at #4 pulled the Foresters to within a point of clinching the match. Freshman Brittany Khayet then finished off a 10-3 win at #6 for the team's fifth point. Heidelberg's second point came at #5 singles and Chionis and Valicenti closed out the contest with victories at #3 and #2, respectively.
Heidelberg fell to 1-3 on the season.
Lake Forest won two out of three doubles matches against Baldwin Wallace as well. Paulson and Cooper prevailed 8-3 at #2 while Valicenti and Chionis edged out their opponents 9-7 at #1.
Cooper was the first to finish in singles and her 6-0, 6-1 victory at #5 made the score 3-1. Paulson won 6-0, 6-2 at #1 and Valicenti secured the match with a 6-2, 6-0 triumph at #2. Shapiro defeated her opponent 6-4, 6-3 at #4 and Chionis closed out the night by taking both sets by the same 6-3 score.
Paulson and Chionis joined Valicenti with perfect 4-0 days and the top three players in the Foresters' lineup are undefeated in doubles and a combined 10-2 in singles in four spring contests.
Lake Forest is now 16-1 on the year while Baldwin Wallace fell to 4-7.
The Foresters' final Spring Break match will be against the College of Wooster on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. (ET).