APPLETON, Wis. -- Lawrence University women's tennis standout Beth Larson fell short in her bid to repeat as the Midwest Conference No. 1 singles champion, and it was Lake Forest College's Melika Celebic who stood in her way.
Larson, who lost to Celebic earlier in the season, fell to the Lake Forest player 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals of the MWC Championships on Sunday in Madison, Wis. Larson was attempting to be the first player in Lawrence history to repeat as the conference's No. 1 singles champion. Lawrence finished sixth in the team standings with 32 points.
Larson had beaten Knox's Megan Funk 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals to set up the showdown with Celebic.
At No. 2 singles, Jennifer Roesch beat Monmouth's Kimi Wegner 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals before falling to St. Norbert's Kelly Van Handel 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Katie Schuld won the play-in match by beating Ripon's Chelsey Foster 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, but Schuld lost to Carroll's Samantha Bachmann 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Katherine Valde dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Grinnell's Tatyanna Sukhamikova in the quarterfinals but rebounded in the consolation bracket. Valde beat Ripon's Brooke Deans 10-2 in the consolation semifinals and then topped Knox's Rachel Clark 10-7 in the consolation final.
At No. 5 singles, Elizabeth Byers beat Carroll's Erin Mohrbacker 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Byers was then eliminated with a 7-6, 6-1 loss to Beloit's Emeline Beck in the semifinals. Anica Cihla lost 6-1, 6-1 to Grinnell's Liza Spears in the quarterfinals at No. 6 singles and was then eliminated with a 10-3 loss to Ripon's Olivia Wetzel in the consolation semifinals.
At No. 1 doubles, Larson and Roesch lost 6-3, 6-3 to St. Norbert's Van Handel and Lauren Post in the quarterfinals but came back to take the consolation title. Larson and Roesch beat Amy Unzicker and Wegner 10-4 in the consolation semifinals and then topped Grinnell's Sukhamikova and Toby Cain 10-4 in the consolation final.
Valde and Byers lost to Ally Yankle and Erin Riutta of St. Norbert 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals but came back to beat Monmouth's Nichole Anson and Sarah McLinden 10-4 in the consolation semifinals. Beloit's Beck and Taylor Jones then topped Valde and Byers 10-1 in the consolation final.
Schuld and Cihla won the play-in match at No. 3 doubles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Monmouth's Rachel Bognar and Ashley Lawrence. Lake Forest's Sara Bennett and Lauren Stroner then eliminated Schuld and Cihla with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the quarterfinals.