Naples native Grace Dowling wins singles championship at Midwest Conference Tennis Championship

LAKE FOREST, IL (10/21/2013)(readMedia)-- The Lake Forest College women's tennis team completed the fall portion of its 2013-14 schedule at the Midwest Conference Championships over the weekend. Sophomore Grace Dowling (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) and freshman Marisa Guggenheim (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) claimed conference titles at #3 and #5 singles, respectively, on Sunday.

Dowling started play on Sunday with a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the #3 player from Grinnell College in the quarterfinals. She also lost the first set 6-3 in the semifinals against Beloit College before taking the second set 6-0 and the third 6-1 to reach the championship match. Dowling prevailed 6-2, 6-4 against Carroll University in the final to win her first career singles title and her second conference championship overall.

Guggenheim defeated the #5 player from Cornell College 6-2 in both sets in her quarterfinal match. In the semifinals, however, she did not win a game in the opening set but rallied for a 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph against St. Norbert College. The final was a rematch of Guggenheim's loss to Grinnell in Friday's team tournament and she avenged that defeat with a 6-2, 7-5 victory on Sunday.

The Foresters also got a runner-up finish by sophomore Christi Valicenti at #2 singles. Valicenti routed her opponents from Carroll and Beloit 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, and semifinals, respectively, before falling 6-4 in both sets to Grinnell in the championship match.

Lake Forest sophomore Sarah Paulson and senior Aimee Fadden reached the semifinals at the top and bottom of the lineup, respectively. Paulson posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Cornell in the quarterfinals but was forced to retire from her semifinal match against Grinnell. Fadden finished off a 6-2, 6-3 win against Beloit in the semifinals but dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision to St. Norbert in the semifinals.

After falling 6-2, 6-4 to Carroll in the main draw, Forester freshman Lexi Chionis rattled off three straight wins to win the consolation bracket at #4. She defeated her counterpart from Cornell 8-0, Monmouth College 8-2, and Illinois College 8-1 to earn three team points.

The Foresters' 72 team points on the weekend trailed only Grinnell's 84. St. Norbert also tallied 72 points but Lake Forest earned a second-place finish in the league based on their performance in Friday's team tournament.

Dowling and Chionis led Lake Forest in the fall with 13 singles victories apiece and Guggenheim was next with 12. Guggenheim and Fadden recorded a team-high 13 victories together in doubles play while Paulson and Valicenti had the best winning percentage with a 10-1 record at the top spot in the lineup.

The Foresters finished the fall with a 12-1 overall record and claimed a second straight MWC South title with a 5-0 mark in divisional play. They will play several more matches in the spring, giving them a chance to break the program record of 13 wins set in 1999 and matched last year.