DE PERE, Wis. – Lakeland University excelled in singles matches but St. Norbert College won a trio of competitive doubles matches and edged the Muskies 5-4 in a hotly contested Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's tennis dual Wednesday afternoon at the Green Bay Tennis Center.

Lakeland won four of six singles matches, including a pair of three-set matches, but dropped its second straight conference match by a razor-thin margin. The Muskies are now 3-4 overall and 2-4 in NACC matches with three matches remaining in the fall season.

The Green Knights (4-7 overall, 3-4 NACC) got off to a 3-0 lead in the match after winning all three doubles matches, including the closest at No. 2 doubles where Grace Peters and Anna Vechart edged Lakeland's Mary Blossom (So.-Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Sadie Conway (Sr.-Monroe, Wis.) 8-5.

The Muskies came back in singles play and won at the top three flights, including Olivia Heling (So.-West Bend, Wis.) defeating Hannah Starr 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) at No. 1 singles. Blossom also rallied back to top Paige Diercks 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, and Kassidee Webb (So.-Castroville, Texas) also defeated Mayghan Bongle 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 at No. 3 singles.

Sydnee Conway (Fr.-Monroe, Wis.) also added a win at No. 6 singles, also coming back from a set down to defeat Grace McCune 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. St. Norbert won the other two matches, though, including Vechart edging Sadie Conway (Sr.-Monroe, Wis.) in a close second set for a 6-3, 7-5 win.

The Muskies are back in action Saturday when they host Milwaukee School of Engineering at 10 a.m. at Sports Core. Also, the Muskies' match against Marian University that was postponed last Tuesday due to rain has now been rescheduled and will be played next Thursday, Oct. 12, starting at 4 p.m. at Sports Core.


St. Norbert College 5, Lakeland Univ. 4
10/04/23 at De Pere, Wis. (Green Bay Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. Heling, Olivia (LUWT) def. Hannah Starr (SNCWT) 6-2, 7-6

2. Blossom, Mary (LUWT) def. Paige Diercks (SNCWT) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

3. Webb, Kassidee (LUWT) def. Mayghan Bongle (SNCWT) 7-6, 7-4

4. Grace Peters (SNCWT) def. Babcock, Baylee (LUWT) 6-2, 6-2

5. Anna Vechart (SNCWT) def. Conway, Sadie (LUWT) 6-3, 7-5

6. Conway, Sydnee (LUWT) def. Grace McCune (SNCWT) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4

 

Doubles competition

1. Hannah Starr/Mayghan Bongle (SNCWT) def. Heling, Olivia/Webb, Kassidee (LUWT) 8-3

2. Grace Peters/Anna Vechart (SNCWT) def. Blossom, Mary/Conway, Sadie (LUWT) 8-5

3. Paige Diercks/Grace McCune (SNCWT) def. Babcock, Baylee/Conway, Sydnee (LUWT) 8-4