RIVER FOREST, ILL. — Hosted on the River Forest campus, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's tennis team faced off against the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans. This game would consist of multiple battles between foes and end with some head-to-head singles action to determine the victor. In the end, the Titans defeated the Cougars with a final score of 6-1.
The doubles matches proved to be a valiant struggle, as all three matches were neck in neck at any given point in the afternoon. For the pairing of Tatiana Overton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and Mackenzie Straulin (Johnsburg, Ill.), they would snag a point for the Cougars in their match as they won 8-2.
Amelia Engelman (McKinney, Texas) and Kamila Giza (East Dundee, Ill.) would just narrowly lose in their match, with a final score of 8-5. Right behind them was Jessica Parker (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) and Ali Wingood (Chicago, Ill.), who lost their match-up 8-3. Showcasing the strength of the doubles pairings in this non-conference battle.
Moving on to singles, Parker would be the lone singles match winner and crossed into a tiebreaker. She won her first round with a score of 6-2, but then fell in the second round 6-0. This then pulled the two opponents into a tiebreaker round, where Parker ran away with the win at 10-8.
Three more Cougars would compete in tiebreaker rounds for their respective singles matches. Engelman just missed the mark, after winning the first round 6-1 and losing the second 6-4, she was barely defeated 10-8. In a similar fate, Giza put up a fight with scores of a 6-2 win, 6-2 loss, and 10-8 loss in the tiebreaker round. Finally, Amirah Shakir (Dekalb, Ill.) won the first round 7-5, lost 6-1, and ultimately lost 10-2 in the final section.
Overall, the Cougars showed immense improvement and progress, just before they cross into Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play.
The Cougars will not go far, as they will host Marian University on Saturday, September 9th at 10 a.m. Come out to cheer them on and wear your school colors for Maroon and Gold Day! Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
