Madison, Wis. - As the Illinois Tech women's tennis team continued to roll through conference play this season, there was one match at the back end of the schedule the Scarlet Hawks had circled as a big measuring stick: Sunday's road match at defending conference champion Edgewood. After surviving a 90 minute delayed arrival due to a broken down van, and surviving a tough battle in doubles play to fall behind 1-0, the Scarlet Hawks won four of the first five singles matches to clinch the overall match victory 4-3. With the win, the Hawks take over sole possession of first place in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) with a 7-0 record (7-1 overall). The Eagles fall to 4-1 in NACC play and to 7-2 overall.

If the Scarlet Hawks win their final conference match of regular season on Friday at home against Marian, Illinois Tech will own the number one seed and a first-round bye in the NACC post-season tournament next spring.

Illinois Tech started doubles play strong, with the number two doubles team of Maddalena Elisa Rosati Dumangane and Maia Lecuona Ramos defeating the Eagles' Christina Ekkela and Kaitlyn Narkis 6-1. The Eagles answered back in the number one doubles match, with Evelyn Taylor and Hattie Plenty sweeping the Scarlet Hawks' Martyna Kalinowska and Thea Salcedo 6-0. With doubles play tied at 1-1, that left it up to the number three doubles match to determine the deciding opening match point. In a match that went to a tie-breaker, it was the Eagles' Sophia Perret and Baylee Knott who edged out the Hawks' Paige Geiger and Angelica Conwell 7-6 (8-6) to take a 1-0 match lead.

The Scarlet Hawks battled back in singles play to take a 2-1 lead, as Lecuona Ramos defeated Narkis 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 in the number four match, followed by Kalinowska defeating Taylor 6-1, 6-2 in the number one match. The Eagles evened up the match at 2-2, however, when Perret defeated Salcedo 6-4, 6-1 in the number three match. Illinois Tech would pull away in the next two completed matches, first with Conwell defeating Knott 7-5, 6-3 in the number six match, and Rosati Dumangane downing Plenty 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the number two match to clinch the match victory for the Scarlet Hawks. The Eagles' Ekkela beat Geiger 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the number five match to provide the final score margin.

Match Notes: The win improved Illinois Tech's lifetime record against Edgewood to 2-7, and snapped a three-match losing streak.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will wrap up the fall conference regular season on Friday, October 10th, when they host Marian University at 4:00 p.m. at the XS Tennis Center.