Lakers Make History, Advance To CCAC Title Match

CHICAGO – Roosevelt women's tennis advanced to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship match for the first time in program history with a 5-2 win over St. Francis on Thursday in the semifinals.

The second-seeded Lakers led the match 1-0 before it began courtesy of the third-seeded Fighting Saints defaulting at No. 6 singles. St. Francis also forfeited at No. 3 doubles, which meant Roosevelt needed just a split in doubles action to take the doubles point. Shortly after the Lakers fell 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, Roosevelt secured the precious doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 2 courtesy of Rebecca Geiger and Alejandra Chavez.

In singles action, Grace Hahn wasted no time in putting the Lakers up 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles that was rarely in doubt. Geiger sealed the match at No. 3 with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph in a match that felt tighter then the scoreline. Roosevelt dropped points at the top-two singles positions, but was able to finish out the match with a win at No. 4 singles. Alyssa Owens battled some pain for a 6-2, 6-4 win, winning the final three games of the match after taking an injury timeout.

The Lakers will travel Saturday to Holy Cross to face the 22nd-ranked team in the nation for the CCAC Tournament crown and automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament.

No. 2 Roosevelt 5, No. 3 St. Francis 2

No. 1 Doubles – Teodora Petrica/Alyssa Owens lost 6-3

No. 2 Doubles – Rebeca Geiger/Alejandra Chavez won 6-4

No. 3 Doubles – Roosevelt won by default

No. 1 Singles – Teodora Petrica lost 6-0, 6-4

No. 2 Singles – Fabiola Rivas lost 6-1, 6-2

No. 3 Singles – Rebecca Geiger won 6-3, 6-3

No. 4 Singles – Alyssa Owens won 6-2, 6-4

No. 5 Singles – Grace Hahn won 6-0, 6-0

No. 6 Singles – Roosevelt won by default