WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's tennis team won the UMAC Championship on Sunday for the second year in a row. The back-to-back champs took down the University of Wisconsin-Superior 7-2 to finish the season with a perfect 8-0 conference record and 19-3 overall record while extended their win streak to 18 consecutive games.
In doubles, the Yellowjackets earned the first team point with an 8-4 win at #2 doubles.
Belinda Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) and
Annie Orvis (Rochester, Minn/Schaeffer Academy) responded with an 8-4 win in the #1 match for the Eagles.
Elise Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Analise Marquardt (Parkers Prairie, Minn./Parkers Prairie) followed with an 8-7 (7-3) tiebreaker win at #3 doubles to take a 2-1 lead for Northwestern.
In singles, UNW earned their third team point with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep at the #5 match by Jarchow. At #3 singles,
Taylar Smith (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield) earned the fourth team point for the Eagles, bringing UNW one win away from winning the title. Orvis clinched the championship with a 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5) super tiebreaker win at #2 singles for the decisive fifth team point.
The Yellowjackets got a singles point at the #1 match, but the Eagles won the remaining two matches to complete the 7-2 victory.
Elli Dodge (Wahpeton, N.D./Wahpeton) took the #4 singles match in a 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) battle and Marquardt closed out the match with a 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) super tiebreaker win.
The conference championship is the fifth in the history of the UNW women's tennis program. The Eagles previously won outright championships in 2015 and 2021 and two co-championships in 2014 and 2017.
Up next for Northwestern is the UMAC Tournament, where UNW will look to repeat their success from last year and clinch another NCAA Tournament berth. The Eagles enter the tournament as the #1 seed and will face the #4 seeded Martin Luther College Knights on Friday starting at 4:00 P.M. at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
