RIPON, Wis. -- The Ripon College women's tennis team wrapped up its home schedule on Saturday with a pair of Midwest Conference matchups, defeating Monmouth College 4-3 in the morning before falling 7-0 to Illinois College in the afternoon at the Willmore Center Courts.

Match One

Ripon opened the day strong, capturing two of three doubles matches to take an early advantage over Monmouth. The duos of junior Jessi Griepentrog (Freedom, Wis., Fox Valley Lutheran HS) and sophomore Isabella Engstrom (Ripon, Wis., Ripon HS) at No. 2 and seniors Catherine Skoglund (Roberts, Wis., St. Croix Central HS) and Allison Pavlovec (Decorah, Iowa, Decorah HS) at No. 3 each earned victories to secure the doubles point.

In singles play, the Red Hawks clinched the win with three straight-set victories. Griepentrog won convincingly at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-1), while Skoglund (6-4, 6-3) and Pavlovec (4-6, 6-1, 6-1) added key wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The result marked Ripon's first conference win of the season. 

Match Two

In the afternoon, Ripon showed resilience against Illinois College, with several close contests across the lineup. Senior Hadley Berendsen (Kimberly, Wis., Kimberly HS) battled through a three-set match at No. 1 singles, taking the opening set 6-1 before ultimately falling in a tight finish. The doubles team of Skoglund and Pavlovec also picked up another strong performance, earning a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles. Despite the tough battles across the board, it was not enough for the Red Hawks as they fall 7-0 to Illinois College.

The Red Hawks return to action next weekend, Oct 18-19, in Madison at Nielsen Tennis Center for the Midwest Conference Individual Tournament.