Chicago, Ill. - With no margin for error, the Illinois Tech women's tennis team hosted conference-unbeaten St. Norbert College Saturday afternoon at the XS Tennis Center. The Scarlet Hawks continued to compete hard in conference play, but the Green Knights pulled away for the 4-3 match victory. The loss dropped the Scarlet Hawks to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. The Green Knights, who have played exclusively within conference to start the season, improve to 3-0.

The Scarlet Hawks will look to make improvements prior to their next conference match on Tuesday, as the loss on Saturday and on Wednesday night at MSOE were both one-point defeats. Turning around doubles play could be the extra point the Scarlet Hawks need to secure the 4th point for match victories, so a turn-around is within reach.

Doubles Play (St. Norbert 3 - Illinois Tech 0) (St. Norbert wins one point for doubles play)
Despite having leads in both the number one and two doubles matches, the Scarlet Hawks couldn't maintain those leads, and eventually were swept in doubles play. Hannah Markiewicz and Martyna Kalinowska dropped their number one doubles match 5-7, while Angelica Conwell and Paige Geiger also fell in a close number two doubles match, 4-6. The number three doubles team of Rhea Karumuru and Ashley Dame fell short on this day, losing 3-6.

Singles Play (St. Norbert 3 - Illinois Tech 3) (St. Norbert earns three points needed to secure the match victory)
The Scarlet Hawks were able to win three of the singles matches, but fell short in earning a fourth singles victory to win the overall match. Kalinowska earned another number one singles victory, winning 6-2, 6-3. For the season, Kalinowska has won four out of her first five collegiate singles matches, including going 3-0 in conference singles play. Dame won in her number four singles match, 6-2, 6-0, improving to 3-2 overall in singles play, and 2-0 in conference. Conwell, in an extended battle with St. Norbert's Irene Multhauf in the number five singles match, outlasted her opponent 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for her first conference singles victory of the season. The singles match that tipped the scales in St. Norbert's favor turned out to be the number three match, in which the Green Knights' Grace Peters defeated the Scarlet Hawks' Geiger 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. Geiger battled but came up short in this pivotal match. Completing the singles competition, Markeiwicz fell 1-6, 3-6 in her number two singles match, while Karumuru dropped a 2-6, 2-6 match to St. Norbert's Paige Diercks in the number six singles competition.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will regroup as they prepare to host Concordia University Chicago on Tuesday, September 17th at the XS Center, with the start time scheduled for 7:00pm in this conference battle.