HANOVER PARK, Ill. - Webster University began its annual trip to the Chicago area for a two match weekend here Friday evening by falling 9-0 to Wheaton (Ill.) College at the Centre Court Athletic Club.
In previous year, Wheaton proved to be a tough opponent and on Friday they continued that trend in posting the shutout win over the Gorloks and improving its record to 14-2 on the year. Webster fell to 8-5 with the loss.
Webster opened Friday's match struggled to gain momentum as they won a total of four games in doubles to trail 3-0 heading into singles play. In doubles, Webster fell 8-1 at the No. 1 spot, 8-3 at the No. 2 and 8-0 at the No. 3 spot. Despite winning only a handful of games in doubles, the Loks weren't discouraged. They were playing well and keeping pace with their opponents. The Thunder had to earn every game.
The Gorloks' determination carried over into singles play and despite not pulling out a win at any of the six spots, they played aggressively and forced Wheaton to win of their own skill.
At the No. 1 spot, senior
Monica Behrle (Atlanta, Ga./East Paulding) fought for a few games in her 6-2, 6-1 loss to Katie Park. Junior
Madison Watts (Rogersville, Mo./Logan Rogersville) at No. 2, junior
Sara Rice (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) at No. 3, and senior
Jesse Steffens-Willis (St. Louis, Mo./Rockwood Summit) at No. 4 all played well but couldn't snag a game in their 6-0, 6-0 losses.
At the No. 5 spot, freshman
Maggie Federhofer (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) had a spectacular first set in her 6-3, 6-1 defeat and at the No. 6 spot, senior
Robin Bolme (Smyrna, Tenn./Blackman)—like the rest of the Gorloks—fought tooth and nail, but ultimately fell, 6-1-6-0 to Wheaton's Nicole Freeman.
"The scores do not reflect how well we played tonight," Webster head coach
Martha Davis-Goldstein said following the match. "Everyone across the board played their best singles.
"I'm happy with everyone's individual performance. This match prepped us for tomorrow's match (against North Park) and our end goal of peaking at the SLIAC tournament."
Webster will conclude its two-match trip to Chicago with a 10 a.m. match on Saturday, April 14 against North Park University at the Centre Court Athletic Club in Hanover Park, Ill.
