LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The John Brown University women's tennis team pieced together consecutive wins in the final action of the regular seasons, sweeping past Baker (Kan.), 7-0, for the second time this season, before riding junior Ellie Swan's win at the five to complete a 4-3 win over Missouri Valley on Friday (April 5) inside the Lawrence Sports Pavilion.
After taking the doubles point against Baker (0-19), the Golden Eagles rattled off five consecutive wins in singles play against the five-woman Wildcat roster. Senior Caroline Hillock began with a 6-2, 6-1 win at the fourth spot with Swan completing the complete-team effort with mirror 6-0 wins at the five over Jordan Grabast.
Senior Abigail Woodring captured a pedestrian 6-1 win in the first set at the second flight, but had to battle in the third set to win 10-6 in the tiebreak after Cambrie Frame used a 7-6 (8-6) win in the second set to force the third set.
With Swan's (10-4) win at the five, she joins senior Lin Xin Tan in double-digit singles victories column.
Against Missouri Valley, however, a 3-0 lead evaporated and required Swan to grab her 11th win of the year at the five to break a three-all tie, vaulting the Golden Eagles to its first 10-win season in the 21st century.
Swan bested Laura Moreno, 6-2, 6-4, ending a three-flight winning streak for the Vikings (4-8) and moved to 10-2 at the five this season.
The Golden Eagles (10-6) started out by using a Swan and junior Erin Kuykendall 6-4 win at the second doubles spot to break a 1-1 tie in tandem action.
Armed with a 1-0 lead, John Brown won the first two singles pairings. Tan improved to 14-2 on the season with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Renata Martinez, while Woodring again was forced to play a third set. This time, after dropping the first set, Woodring battled back and easily won the second, 6-1, before clinching the third-set tiebreak, 10-7.
The Golden Eagles will now take an 18 day hiatus and prepare for the postseason. John Brown will wait for seedings to be released for the quarterfinal round of the Unaffiliated Group Regional Championships, scheduled for April 24-25 at the Dwight D. Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, Mo.
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