Manchester Claims HCAC Women's Tennis AQ Championship
October 17, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS , IN - Manchester College 's women's tennis team capped off another very successful season, claiming the school's seventh consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship on Friday afternoon. The Spartans earned the No. 5 seed after completing the regular season with a 5-3 record, but strung together three wins to earn this weekend's conference tournament championship.
Manchester posted a 5-1 win over Rose-Hulman before knocking off top seeded Hanover 5-2 and second seeded Franklin 5-1 to earn the championship and the conference's automatic qualifier for the Division III NCAA tournament.
In Friday's championship match with Franklin , the Spartans posted a 5-1 victory. MC posted wins at two doubles positions. Milagros Ridoutt ( Warsaw , Ind. ) and Jordin Youst (Plymouth , Ind. ) knocked off Morgan Bright (Greenwood , Ind. ) and Kayli Schafer (Mooresville , Ind. ) of Franklin at No. 1 doubles 8-4, while April Erxleben (Decatur , Ind. ) and Nikki Ferguson (Ft. Wayne , Ind. ) handed Chelsy Gott (Mooresville , Ind. ) and Lindsey Shaw (North Vernon , Ind. ) a loss at No. 3 doubles 8-3.
In singles play, Manchester earned wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 singles. Ridoutt earned a win at No. 1 singles over Bright 6-1, 6-4 and Youst handed Emily Ruch (Lebanon , Ind. ) a defeat at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-3. Brittany Oliver (Lafayette , Ind. ) completed the scoring with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Cristy Tucker (Franklin , Ind. ) .
The Franklin victory came at No. 2 doubles. Ruch teamed with Tucker to knock off Christa Hunter (New Haven , Ind. ) and Danielle Walker (Columbia City , Ind. ) 8-5 to earn the Grizzlies lone point of the championship match.
With claiming the tournament title, Manchester has earned the conference's automatic bid to play in the NCAA Division III tennis championships this spring.
Hanover 's Michelle Allmendinger was honored as the 2008 HCAC Coach of the Year. Allmendinger guided the Panthers to their first conference championship since 2001, finishing the conference season a perfect 8-0.