GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin women's tennis team defeated Aquinas 5-4 on Saturday evening at MVP Sportsplex.
The match opened with doubles play as Calvin took the 2-1 lead.
At No. 1 doubles, sophomore duo Leah Newhof (Caledonia, Mich. / Grand Rapids Christian) and Maddie Brouwer (Caledonia, Mich. / Grand Rapids Christian) defeated Remington Gerst and Martina Devetak 8-4.
Sophomore Alexia Bonner (Alto, Mich. / Forest Hills Central) and freshman Maria Poortenga (Grand Rapids, MIch. / Grand Rapids Christian) also picked up an 8-4 win over Bella Buck and Darci TerHaar and No. 2 doubles.
Freshman duo Grace Brown (Middleville, Mich. / Thornapple Kellogg) and Maya Klopfenstein (Goshen, IN. / Concord High School) fell to the team of Bailey Chouinard and Kiara Berry at No. 3 doubles.
Moving on to singles play, Newhof cruised to a win at No. 1 singles as she defeated Gerst 6-4, 6-3. At No. 2 doubles, Devetak came out on top as she defeated Brouwer 6-1, 7-6.
Poortenga claimed a 7-6, 6-2 win over Chouinard at No. 3 singles. At No. 4 singles, Buck defeated Klopfenstein with a comeback win 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
TerHaar claimed a 6-1, 6-2 win over Brown at No. 5 singles to tie up the match at 4-4 with No. 6 singles left to play.
Closing out the match was Bonner who pulled out a three-set match at No. 6 singles defeating Heylmun 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 to give Calvin the clinching point to walk away with the victory.
Head Coach Kevin Van Haitsma stated, "That was a great 5-4 win for us. That's the third year in a row between the two schools for 5-4 decisions. We played some great doubles to get the crucial 2-1 edge going into singles. Leah and Maria played great to get us the first two singles wins. Alexis saved two overall match points and came up with a big win in the third set tie breaker. It was a really a fun match and enthusiastic environment from both schools."
Calvin is now 2-0 on the season as it heads into competition next weekend against John Carroll. The Knights will take on the Blue Streaks at 10 a.m. in Kalamazoo, Mich.
