Olivia Bell and Kate Christian during doubles play

Meredith Mahoney

Women’s Tennis Sets Sights on CCIW Tournament

Titans to face North Park in quarterfinals

4/23/2025 10:00:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Entering the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament as the seventh seed, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's tennis team will take on No. 2 seed North Park University in the quarterfinals Thursday, April 24. First serve is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Evergreen Racquet Club. Millikin University is set to host the CCIW Tournament at IWU's home facility Thursday-Saturday, April 24-26.

Illinois Wesleyan (8-11, 2-6 CCIW) earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament after defeating Millikin and Elmhurst in the fall. The Titans dowed the Big Blue, 6-1, Wednesday, Sept. 18, before sweeping Elmhurst, 7-0, Monday, Sept. 23. After a strong sophomore campaign in conference action, Amber Ehrlich (Springfield, Ill.-Glenwood) earned her second straight Second Team All-CCIW honor.

IWU fell at North Park (10-8, 7-1 CCIW) 5-2, Saturday, Sept. 14. The Titans earned victories at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. Ehrlich claimed the win in the top singles spot, as she defeated Hanna Zethraeus 6-4, 2-6, 10-5. Fellow sophomore Olivia Bell (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) was victorious at No. 3 singles, as she claimed her first set 6-0 before falling in a tiebreaker during the second, 7-6(5). Bell gutted out the win in a super tiebreaker, taking it 11-9.

The Titans will meet the Vikings on the courts for the 25th time since 1989, with IWU holding a commanding 20-4 edge in the series. North Park has taken the win in the last three meetings, and enters the tournament after claiming a share for the CCIW Regular Season Championship. The conference saw a three-way tie for first, as NPU, North Central, and Wheaton each finished league play with a 7-1 record.

North Central earned the top seed in the tournament, while Wheaton enters as the three seed. Carthage is seeded fourth, while Carroll is No. 5. Augustana sits directly ahead of IWU as the sixth seed, and Millikin defeated Elmhurst Friday, April 18, to take the last spot in the eight-team tournament.

A win over North Park would pit IWU against the winner of the Wheaton-Augustana match, and the two teams would face in the CCIW Semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday, April 25. The CCIW Tournament Championship match is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, at 12 p.m., with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line.

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