Chicago, Ill. - It all came down to one match and a third-set tiebreaker for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Women's Tennis Quarterfinals match between host and number four seed Illinois Tech and visiting number five seed Concordia Wisconsin Tuesday afternoon at XS Tennis Center. Illinois Tech's Hannah Markiewicz and Concordia Wisconsin's Maddie Brashaw split the first two sets and were tied 6-6 in the third set when they entered the 7-point tie-breaker to decide which team would advance to the NACC Semi-Finals. With all eyes on court 8 for the remaining match, it was the Scarlet Hawks who pulled out the win, with Markiewicz outlasting Brashaw in the tie-breaker 7-5 for an Illinois Tech 4-3 team victory.

The Scarlet Hawks move on to the NACC Semi-finals on Friday, May 2nd, when they travel to number one seed Edgewood for a 12:30pm match in Madison, Wisconsin.

"The women battled hard," said Head Coach Kris Powell. "We knew CUW was going to be better and compete harder. We prepared to deal with pressure and we prepared to deal with the expectation of winning. Very proud and we hope to carry some of that momentum against the number 1 seed."

In what turned out to be a very significant team point in the match, it was the Scarlet Hawks earning the lone doubles point that set the stage for Markiewicz's third-set dramatics. 

The Hawks' number three doubles team of Ashley Dame and Marta Oscoz got things started for Illinois Tech with a 6-3 victory over CUW's Ruth Dolde and Katelyn de Guzman. The Scarlet Hawks' number two doubles team of Paige Geiger and Angelica Conwell clinched the team doubles point when they defeated the Falcons' Payton Steward and Morgan Chyla 6-2. With Illinois Tech winning the double point, the number one doubles match between Hawks' Markiewicz and Martyna Kalinowska against the Falcons' Brashaw and Peyton Morgan went unfinished tied at 4-4.

With the doubles point in-tow, the Scarlet Hawks set out to add on to their team lead in singles play.  Dame would extend the Hawks' match lead to 2-0 when she won her number four singles match against Chyla 6-2, 6-1. 

But the Falcons would have other plans on how the rest of the match would play out. The Falcons' Abby Schwarz, inserted into the number six singles position, defeated the Hawks' Oscoz to give the Falcons their first point, trailing 2-1. CUW's Dolde tied the match at 2-2 when she won her number three singles match against Geiger 6-1, 6-4. CUW's Steward jumped out to a quick 6-1 first-set victory over the Hawks' Conwell in the number five singles match, putting the Falcons on the verge of going up 3-2. But Conwell battled back in the second set, playing Seward tough before eventually falling in the second set, 7-5. The win by Seward capped off three consecutive singles match victories for the Falcons, giving them a 3-2 lead with two singles matches remaining.

In the number one singles match, the Hawks' Kalinowska jumped out to a 5-0 opening set lead before CUW's Morgan would win the next three games to close the gap to 5-3. Kalinowska would win the next game for a 6-3 first-set victory. The second set would prove to be even more of a battle between the two number one singles players, with Kalinowska eventually overtaking Morgan for a 7-5 second-set victory, and tying the match score at 3-3.

Similar to the Kalinowska-Morgan match, the number two singles match between Markiewicz and Brashaw played out similar in the first set. Markiewicz started with a 5-0 lead before Brashaw won the next two games to cut her deficit to 5-2. Markiewicz would go on to win the next game for a 6-2 first set victory, but the two games won by Brashaw in the opening set seemed to give her momentum heading into the second set, as she took an early lead on Markiewicz before closing out the set with a 6-4 victory, tying the match at one set apiece and forcing a deciding third set. 

In the third set, Markiewicz and Brashaw split the first two games before Brashaw won the next two to open up a 3-1 lead. Markiewicz would respond by winning the next four games to move out in front 5-3. But Brashaw refused to relent, winning the next two games to tie the third set at 5-5. Markiewicz would win the next game to regain the lead at 6-5. But as she had done before, Brashaw battled back, winning game twelve to tie the third set at 6-6, forcing the third set tie-breaker.

It would be Brashaw who would strike first, winning the first two points to open up a 2-0 lead. Markiewicz would win the next four points to open up a 4-2 advantage. The pair would trade the next two points before Brashaw won two more to tie up the tie-breaker at 5-5. After Markiewicz won the next point to move in front 6-5, on her subsequent serve Brashaw's return went into the net, giving Markiewicz the 7-5 third-set tie-breaker victory, winning the match 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), and completing the Illinois Tech match comeback with a the 4-3 victory.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks travel to Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, May 2nd when they face host and number one seed Edgewood in the NACC Women's Tennis Semi-finals. Match time is 12:30pm.