Jenn Knobbe April 16, 2008

Grinnell rallies past Dutch in singles

PELLA—Grinnell College swept the singles matches to overcome the Central College women’s tennis team 6-3 Wednesday.    

Central captured all three doubles matches before Grinnell rallied, getting three of its singles wins in three-set matches.

Central players wore pink t-shirts for the match to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer and to help support research.

The Dutch are 0-5 in the abbreviated spring season but are without their full lineup. Central had edged Grinnell 5-4 Sept. 19 at Grinnell.

Central wraps up the spring campaign at the Iowa Conference’s qualifying tournament Saturday in Cedar Rapids. The tourney features the top four finishers in last fall’s league tourney—Coe, Luther, Central and Wartburg—to determine the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III tournament. Central, which placed third last fall, meets second-place Luther College in a 10 a.m. match while Coe faces Wartburg. The two winners clash at 2 p.m.

April 16 at Pella, Iowa
Grinnell 6, Central 3

Singles 
1. Camila Alarcon (G) def. Katie Moklestad 6-2, 7-5
2. Susan Klumpner (G) def. Jennifer Knobbe 6-4, 6-2
3. Katie Colver (G) def. Whitney Visser 6-1, 6-0
4. Jill Akiyama (G) def. Faith Bliss 3-6, 7-5, 10-7
5. Margaret Block (G) def. Steph Gibbons 6-4, 3-6, 10-5
6. Curran Johnson (G) def. Katie Williamson 7-5, 1-6, 10-8

Doubles 
1. Jennifer Knobbe/Faith Bliss (C) def. Camila Alarcon/Susan Klumpner 8-6
2. Katie Moklestad/Steph Gibbons (C) def. Katie Colver/Margaret Block 8-4
3. Whitney Visser/Katie Williamson (C) def. Jill Akiyama/Kelsey Picken 8-5

Match notes:
T-3:05 A-50