Women’s Tennis wins in southern roadtrip

After a tough beginning of the season, the Women’s tennis team made the long trip down to Illinois to face a trio of conference foes this past weekend. Senior El Goblirsch said the team mostly “chats and does Disney singalongs” to pass the time on these long trips. The Lady Vikes had a strong weekend, notching their first two victories of the season.

Lawrence began their busy weekend of matches on Saturday, Sept. 15 in Galesburg, Illinois, taking on the Knox Prairie Fire. The Lady Vikes got off to a strong start as the No. 2 doubles team of junior Alexis Shannon and sophomore Lindsey Lucas won their match 8-5 and the No. 3 doubles team of Goblirsch and first year Morgan Fisher cruised to an 8-0 victory. In the singles matches, Lawrence solidified their 7-2 win over Knox by winning five of the six matches. Senior Annie Harincar won at No. 1 singles 6-1, retired, Goblirsch won at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-2, and Shannon won at No. 4 singles 6-1, 6-1. The Lady Vikes were also helped by dominating performances at No. 5 and No. 6 singles as Fisher won 6-1, 6-0 and Lucas won 6-0, 6-0, respectively.

Lawrence then made the short trip over to Monmouth, Illinois to face the Monmouth Fighting Scots later in the day on Saturday. The Lady Vikes started big, taking two out of the three doubles matches. The No. 1 doubles team of Harincar and senior Katie Nottberg won 8-6, and the No. 3 doubles team of Goblirsch and Fisher posted a dominating 8-1 victory. However, Monmouth came roaring back during the singles competition to win five out of the six matches. Goblirsch posted the lone Lawrence victory at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-3. Monmouth took home the win 6-3.

On Sunday, the Lady Vikes traveled farther south down to Jacksonville, Illinois to take on the Illinois College Lady Blues. Lawrence once again picked up two wins in the doubles competition. This time the No. 2 doubles team of Shannon and Lucas won 8-4 and the No. 3 doubles team of Goblirsch and Fisher rolled to an 8-0 win. The Lady Vikes were then powered to a 5-4 victory over Illinois College by dominating victories in the No. 4 to No. 6 singles matches. Shannon won her match at No. 4 singles 6-0, 6-1. At No. 5 singles, Fischer went a perfect 6-0, 6-0 to win and Lucas tacked on a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles to seal the deal for the Lady Vikes.

This weekend brings the Lady Vikes’ record to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Goblirsch described their season so far saying, “The season has been going well! We’ve played well against some of the top teams in conference and continue to work hard to win.” Going forward, the team wants to “finish the season strong and to have a blast at conference in October” according to Goblirsch.

Lawrence will take a short break from Midwest Conference competition as they host the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and Alverno College this upcoming Saturday, Sept. 22 at home. “Tennis is a great sport to watch and we’re one of two sports on this side of the river, so use your free Saturday morning to sit by the river and watch us!” adds Goblirsch.