GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin women's tennis team secured the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament with a 5-4 victory over Kalamazoo on Saturday. The Knights snapped a losing streak to Kalamazoo that had stood since 2011 on Saturday. The senior day victory is the eighth-straight victory for the Knights.
"This was a big win for us," said Calvin head coach Kevin Van Haitsma. "It was senior day for us, so it was fun to honor Claire, Ellie, and Liz before hand and they all came out and played great today. We got all three doubles points and that gave us some momentum and we needed all of those points. Singles were a battle today and we found a way to win two of them."
The junior duo of Jessica Bouma (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) and Micaela Seazzu (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia) got the ball rolling for the Knights on Saturday, defeating Eloise Germic and Maya Srkalovic at No. 3 doubles, 8-4. The Calvin duo finish the regular season with a 13-2 record.
The senior duo of Claire Spoelhof (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) and Ellie Benzel (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas) shined on senior day. The pair downed Maria Franco and Laura Hanselman at No. 1 doubles, 8-6. The senior duo finished the MIAA schedule 5-2 at No. 1 doubles.
The Knights came out on top of the battle at No. 2 doubles. Junior Lark Foote (Okemos, Mich./Home School) and senior Liz Turner (Audobon, Pa./Delaware County Christian) edged Alexandria Oswalt and Sonal Bahl, 9-7, to complete the doubles sweep.
The Hornets fought back to make it a 3-2 match with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.
Ellie Benzel finished first senior day with 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles over Eloise Germic. Benzel is now 4-1 in MIAA play and 7-4 at No. singles.
Freshman Anna Asfour (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) proved to be the hornet spray Calvin needed at No. 4 singles in a three-set thriller. After falling in the first set to Alexandria Oswalt 3-6, Asfour bounced Oswalt 6-1, 6-1, to clinch the match. Asfour has won her last eight matches and went 7-1 in MIAA play.
Kalamazoo closed the match with victories at No. 4 and No. 6 singles.
The Knights earned the right to host Kalamazoo on Thursday in the semifinal round of the MIAA Tournament. Hope will host Saint Mary's in the other semifinal match.
