ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The University of Northwestern Women's Tennis team's quest for a fourth consecutive UMAC Women's Tennis Tournament championship commenced on Friday afternoon with the North Division second-seeded Eagles taking on South Division champion Principia College. The matchup was a rematch of last year's championship match, which Northwestern won 5-4 in thrilling fashion. The 2024 edition did not go UNW's way; however, as the Eagles fell 1-5 to the Panthers.
Principia earned the first point of the day at #3 doubles, defeating
Abigail Ross (Chico, Calif./Central) and
Rayna Baumgarn (Holmen, Wis./Holmen) 8-5, but Northwestern punched back to even the match at one apiece thanks to an 8-7
Elise Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Analise Marquardt (Parkers Prairie, Minn./Parkers Prairie) win at #2 doubles. The final doubles match on the court was a barn burner as well, but UNW's top team of
Annie Orvis (Rochester, Minn/Schaeffer Academy) and
Abby Johnson (Zimmerman, Minn./Homeschool) came up just short in a 7-8 loss.
Despite the heartbreakingly close loss to close out doubles play, Northwestern hoped to save its season with a strong effort in singles matches. The Panthers had other ideas. Johnson lost her #2 singles match 1-6, 2-6, then Baumgarn fell 2-6, 3-6 in the #6 match. Suddenly, UNW found itself needing to win out to keep its season alive. It was not able to do so as Principia soon closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-3 win at #3 singles over
Elise Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) to advance to the championship match on Saturday. The other ongoing matches were stopped at that point since the winner had been decided.
While Northwestern's season is concluding earlier than we've become accustomed to, it was far from a failure. The Eagles finished with a 17-11 overall record, 4-1 UMAC record and another trip to the conference tournament. The program also saw two players—
Analise Marquardt (Parkers Prairie, Minn./Parkers Prairie) and
Elise Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne)—join the 100 career wins club this season. And now for the bittersweet part: UNW and Head Coach
Matt Swigart will say goodbye to a terrific group of graduating players that includes Marquardt, Orvis, Baumgarn,
Madeline Troolin (Cambridge, Minn./Homeschool) and
Grace Buswell (Winona, Minn/Winona), that have reached great heights with the program over the courses of their careers.
