Asbury (Ky.) wins 2015 KIAC Women's Tennis Tournament

10/25/2015 12:00:00 AM

(By Cody Stansell, Asbury Sports Information Assistant)

OWENSBORO, Ky. – No. 2 seed Asbury (Ky.) University defeated No. 1 seed IU Southeast in the KIAC Women's Tennis Tournament championship match on Saturday by a final score of 5-4.

The Eagles earned the KIAC's automatic bid to the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship May 17-21 in Mobile, Ala. The KIAC Tournament was held at Centre Court in Owensboro, Ky., and hosted by Brescia (Ky.).

The Asbury Eagles (8-3, 4-1 KIAC) and IU Southeast Grenadiers (9-4, 5-0 KIAC) sparred in a rematch of their contest earlier in October and the final score line was exactly the same as last time, 5-4, except this one had a very different storyline and ending. In an almost fairytale ending to their KIAC season, Asbury clawed and scraped to win the championship match.

In No. 1 doubles, it was Asbury's Caitlyn Conyers and Sarah Beth Alford up against IU Southeast's Dana Frank and Maddie Ikerd. After being down three match points, the Eagles rallied back and won several points to tie it up 8-8. The match went to a tiebreaker, and the Eagles snagged it out of the Grenadiers' hands for the 9-7 win. That was one down and there were four to go for the Eagles.

In another doubles match, Asbury's Emily Ross and Alex LoPrinzi battled Katie Walsh and Alexis Applegate of IU Southeast, but lost, 8-5. That tied the score 1-1 for the championship.

Then Asbury's Laura Ross and Juleah Morehouse took down IU Southeast's Abby Hurtgen and Anne Marie Mattox by a score of 8-2. It was much-improved play from their last meeting. Two down and three to go for the Eagles' championship as Asbury led, 2-1.

At No. 4 singles, Asbury's Laura Ross won the first set, 6-0, over Maddie Ikerd and gave up only one game in the second set to finish out the win, 6-1. That was three down and two to go as the Ealges led, 3-1.

At No. 2 singles, Asbury's Sarah Beth Alford played IU Southeast's Katie Walsh a bit tighter than she did in their last meeting when Walsh posted a straight-sets win. It was well-fought, but Walsh ultimately won, 6-3, 6-2. That cut Asbury's lead to 3-2 in the match.

At No. 3 and No. 5 singles, Indiana Southeast won tough matches. IU Southeast's Alexis Applegate won the No. 3 singles match over Alex LoPrinzi, 6-4, 6-2. At No. 5 singles, IU Southeast's Abby Hurtgen won against Emily Ross 6-2, 6-0. That put the Grenadiers in front, 4-3, for the championship.

At No. 6 singles, Asbury's Juleah Morehouse was facing IU Southeast's Anne Marie Mattox. Morehouse took the first set fairly easily, 6-2. She led in the second set after a lob found the baseline and put Mattox on her heels. But Mattox battled her way back to a tiebreaker before losing the set and the match on a double fault, 7-6. That made the score, 4-4, for the championship.

With the weight of the championship on the No. 1 singles players for each team, Asbury's Caitlin Conyers faced IU Southeast's Dana Frank. Conyers won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6, and dominated the second set with a 6-1 win to give the Eagles the championship, 5-4.

Of the three tiebreakers played in the contest, all three tiebreakers were wins for the Eagles. The win was also historical in another sense. The win over IU Southeast makes it their first loss to a KIAC opponent in 17 years.

"I cannot say enough about how these ladies competed today," said Asbury coach Jarred Miller. "It was the first conference final for all of them so there were some nerves initially, but we settled into the match nicely. Doubles was insane! Caitlin and Sarah Beth were down three match points and came back for the win. Playing three tiebreakers and winning all three is so clutch for us. These girls really wanted to win this match today, and they did. I am so proud of them and the fact that they booked us a trip to nationals in Mobile, Alabama in May!"

2015 KIAC WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Fri.-Sat., Oct. 23-24 at Brescia (Ky.) University (All Times Central)
All matches at Centre Court (2965 Bittel Road, Owensboro, Ky.)
Fri., Oct. 23 -- Quarterfinals
9 a.m. CT -- #3 Carlow (2-3, 2-3 KIAC) def. #6 Alice Lloyd (0-5, 0-5 KIAC), 8-1 (ALC eliminated)
11 a.m. CT -- #4 Brescia (4-5, 2-3 KIAC) def. #5 IU East (5-7, 2-3 KIAC), 7-2 (IUE eliminated)
Fri., Oct. 23 -- Semifinals
1 p.m. CT -- #2 Asbury (6-3, 4-1 KIAC) def. #3 Carlow, 6-0 (Carlow Eliminated)
3 p.m. CT -- #1 IU Southeast (8-3, 5-0 KIAC) def. #4 Brescia (Ky.), 5-0 (Brescia Eliminated)
Sat., Oct. 24 -- Finals
11 a.m. CT -- #2 Asbury def. #1 IU Southeast, 5-4 (IU Southeast Eliminated)