GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's tennis team celebrated Senior Day with an 8-1 win over visiting Alma College Wednesday afternoon at Calvin's Strikwerda Tennis Courts.
The Knights improve to 16-2 overall and finish the MIAA regular season with a 6-2 conference record.
The Knights finish third in the final MIAA regular season standings and will be the No. 3 seed for next week's MIAA Tournament. The Knights will travel to No. 2 seed Kalamazoo next Thursday for an MIAA Tournament semifinal match at 4 p.m. at the Stowe Stadium Courts.
In its win over Alma, Calvin picked up two of the three doubles points winning 8-6 at both No. 2 doubles and 8-3 at No. 1 doubles.
Calvin's No. 2 doubles win came from the tandem of senior Grace Brown (Middleville, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg HS) and freshman Maggie Shoemaker (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS). Calvin's No. 1 doubles win came from the duo of senior Emily Schellenboom (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) and freshman Catherine Grissom (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central HS).
In singles, Schellenboom picked up a thrilling 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 win over Kayla Weller. Brown defeated Amanda Szymborski at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-3.
Shoemaker defeated Ainsley Kinney 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Grissom topped Liz Hill 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
Freshman Averi Lewis defeated Emma Lloyd 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles and senior Alexis Ganop (Riverview, Mich./Riverview Community HS) defeated Emily McDonald 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
At the conclusion of the match, Calvin celebrated its senior class which includes Bronw, Ganop, Schellenboom and Sara Kroeze (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS).
COACHES COMMENT: "First of all it was great to play outdoors on a cold and sunshiny day and we are grateful for that," said Calvin head tennis coach John Ross. "We are also grateful for our senior class and the way they have led this year. We have had a really special season and the seniors have played a key role in that success. It was great to see (senior) Emily Schelleboom come back for the win at No. 2 singles and our No. 2 doubles did a great job in making sure we secured a second doubles point. That was key. I'm just really proud of this group and we are looking forward to the MIAA Tournament next week."
NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to Kalamazoo next Thursday for the MIAA Tournament semifinals at 4 p.m.
