Women’s tennis team splits two matches at MIAA Championships

The Olivet College women's tennis team split two matches at the 2010 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships today at Hope College. After losing their first match to the host and No. 2 seed Flying Dutch, 7-2, the Comets battled back to beat No. 6 seed Adrian College, 5-4. Olivet will now play Saint Mary's (Ind.) College in the fifth-place match tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.

Against Hope, freshman Caitlin LaValley (Battle Creek/Pennfield) rallied to win a three-set match at No. 1 singles. After winning the first set 7-6 (4), she lost the second set 6-1 to even the match. LaValley pulled out the win with a 10-8 super-tiebreaker win for the third set. Also winning was senior Celeste Gruber (South Haven) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 3 singles.

Against Adrian, Olivet won 2-of-3 doubles matches. The No. 1 duo of LaValley and sophomore Giana Guerra (Lansing/Waverly) posted an 8-4 win, while the No. 2 duo of Gruber and sophomore Kelsey Singer (Brooklyn/Columbia Central) won 9-7. The Comets then won two singles matches – Guerra (6-1, 6-0) at No. 2 and Gruber (6-3, 7-5) at No. 3 – and the Bulldogs won three singles matches to level the match at 4-4. The No. 1 singles match was the last one to finish, and LaValley won the first set on a tiebreaker (7-6 (1)) and then won the second set in straight games, 6-0, to give Olivet the win.