Holst Wins in Singles as Scots Fall to Foresters

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/05/2024) — The Monmouth College women's tennis team lost a home conference match against Lake Forest College on Saturday. The 6-1 loss drops the Scots to 1-5 in MWC as freshman Natalie Holst (East Moline, Illinois) picked up a singles win, the first against Lake Forest in nine years.

Holst won at #5 singles, 7-5, 6-1, the first win against the Foresters since Sep. 2015 when the match ended 7-2 with a singles and doubles win. The Scots also won a singles match against LFC in 2012. Holst has won six straight singles matches and is 7-2 on the season with a 5-1 record against MWC opponents.

"Great representation by our freshmen today as they have continued to get better every week," said head coach Brian Dahlstrom "Our roster is really strong at the top so it is a great sign for the future of our program that we are building depth in the lineup."

Ivana Stefanova (Streamwood, Illinois) lost 6-2, 6-1 #1 singles and Natalie Labicki (Antioch, Illinois) fell 6-1, 6-3 at #2 singles. Kimber Calvert (Paris, Illinois) lost 6-0, 6-0 at #3 with. Jennifer Shimmin (Monmouth, Illinois) fell 6-0, 6-1at #4. Alayna McKinley (Rock Island, Illinois) forced a second set tiebreak at #6 singles before falling 6-1, 7-6 (8).

Lake Forest swept the doubles matches with wins of 6-1 at both #1 and #2 and a 7-5 win at #2. Shimmin and Maddie Psomas (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) were honored in a pre-match Senior Day ceremony.

The Scots finish the regular season at Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday before heading to the Midwest Conference singles and doubles tournament in Madison, Wisconsin Oct. 19-20.