The Lake Forest College women's tennis team celebrated Homecoming with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over visiting Grinnell College on Saturday. Freshmen Billie Rodman and Allison Watts combined for a win in doubles and a pair of victories in singles.
Rodman and Watts prevailed 8-2 at #2 doubles but Grinnell won at the other two positions. The Pioneers also finished off victories at the bottom two spots in the singles lineup to take a 4-1 lead.
A 6-1, 6-2 triumph by Rodman at #1 singles began the Forester comeback. With only four courts available, the final two matches had just begun when Watts closed out her 7-5, 6-2 win at #4. Senior Christi Valicenti knotted the score at four on her 6-3, 6-2 win at #2, leaving fellow Lake Forest senior Grace Dowling and and the Pioneers' #2 player to decide the match. Dowling took the first set 6-4 and the second 7-5 to secure the home team's victory and deal Grinnell its first Midwest Conference loss of the year.
Lake Forest improved to 10-1 overall and 8-1 in league play. Grinnell came out on top of a 5-4 decision at Carroll University later in the day and is now 9-3 overall and also 8-1 in the conference.
The final league matches of the season will be played on Sunday. The Foresters host Cornell College at 10:00 and need a victory coupled with either a Grinnell win at Beloit College or a St. Norbert College loss at Knox College to clinch its first conference title since 2003.
