LAKE WINONA, IN - The Spring Arbor University Women's Tennis Team will advance to the second round of the MCC Championship Tournament after defeating Grace College in the first round of the tournament. The Cougars beat the Lancers 5-2.
Last month, the Lady Cougars fell to Grace 2-7 in Spring Arbor, but #2 Singles, Kristin DeBruyn was not eligible to play at that time as she hadn't cleared the new NAIA Clearing House.
The win is the fourth straight for Spring Arbor and evened their record at 5-5 overall. They will advance and play the winner of the Indiana Wesleyan / Huntington University match being played later today. IWU is the number 1 seed in the tournament after winning the regular season conference play for the 20th straight year in a row.
Spring Arbor got off on the right foot early with wins at 1 & 2 Doubles. Kelly Smith and Becca Kragt won and the 1 spot 9-7 and Hope Roelofs and DeBruyn won a thriller at #2 9-8 (7-3).
With a one point lead, the Cougars needed to win three of the six singles matches to secure the victory. Once a team reaches 5 wins, the rest of the matches cease playing and walk off the court.
Kelly Smith won a decisive 6-2, 6-3 match over Jenessa Jergensen at #1 singles, while DeBruyn won a three set match at #2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Jenna Bart defeated Janelle Hess at #6 singles 7-5, 6-2 to secure the win.
If IWU wins, they will be the higher seed and will host Spring Arbor on Thursday. If Huntington wins, Spring Arbor will be the higher seed and host the Foresters.
