Junior Julie Lord successfully defended her Midwest Conference title at #1 singles Sunday as the Foresters closed out the 2019 portion of their schedule at the MWC Individual Tournaments in Madison, Wisconsin.
Lord, who was the league's #2 seed at the top spot in the singles lineup, did not lose a game in either of her first two matches, a quarterfinal victory over the best player from Ripon College and a semifinal triumph over her counterpart from Lawrence University. Lord then avenged her only dual match loss of the season in the final, edging out Grinnell College's top player 7-5, 6-4 to claim the title for the second year in a row. Lord also teamed with senior Leeza Bodnar to capture their third consecutive conference championship at #1 doubles on Saturday.
The other five Foresters also reached the final in their respective brackets but were defeated by players from Grinnell. Freshman Natalia Leite and sophomore Katie Wegrecki were the closest to joining Lord on the list of conference champions. Leite dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision in the title match at #5 while Wegrecki fell 6-3, 6-4 at #6. Leite lost a total of just five games in the quarterfinals and semifinals combined and Wegrecki blanked both of her first two opponents 6-0, 6-0.
Sophomore Tebatso Duba was the runner-up at #2, Bodnar at #3, and junior Tyranny Miller at #4.
The Foresters will continue the 2019-20 season with a dual match at Kalamazoo College on February 29.