Lake Forest swept the doubles competition and added victories at the top two spots in the singles lineup to post a 5-0 victory over St. Norbert College Thursday in the semifinals of the 2019 Midwest Conference Tournament. The Foresters will now face off against Grinnell College in the final at 4:00 p.m.
Senior Allison Watts and sophomore Tyranny Miller were the first to finish off their doubles win, topping the Green Knights' #2 tandem 8-2. Sophomore Julie Lord and junior Leeza Bodnar prevailed by the same score at #1 and the Foresters' #3 team of freshman Tebatso Duba and sophomore Emma Wang posted an 8-3 victory.
All six singles matches were in the second set when Lord completed a 6-1, 6-0 triumph at #1 and Watts clinched the contest with a 6-2, 6-0 win at #2. Lake Forest players took the first set and were leading in the second at three of the other four positions in the lineup when the match went final.
The Foresters, who captured the conference title with a perfect 9-0 league record in the fall and enter the tournament ranked 17th in the Central Region, improved to 20-3 on the year while St. Norbert fell to 11-15.
Grinnell College defeated Cornell College 5-0 in the other semifinal, setting up a 4:00 p.m. final between the Foresters and Pioneers with the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament at stake.