Labicki Named MWC Tennis Newcomer of the Year

Scots reach conference semifinals in No. 1 doubles, top two singles flights

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/17/2022) — The Monmouth College women's tennis team had a handful of strong performances at the Midwest Conference Individual Tournament over the weekend. Freshman Natalie Labicki (Antioch, Illinois) was named Newcomer of the Year and was one of two players to win two matches over the weekend.

Playing at No. 1 singles, Labicki beat Lawrence's Margot Connor in the first round match, 6-2, 6-1. That win flipped the result from two weeks again when Connor beat Labicki in three-sets in a match at Monmouth, wining the final set tiebreaker 10-8. Labicki then played the #2 seed Maria Jose Campos from Lake Forest in the semifinals and lost 6-1, 6-0.

At No. 2 singles, Emily Laughlin (Milan, Illinois) won her first round match 6-4, 6-1 over Hannah Lueke of Illinois College. Laughlin faced Margaret Bugnacki of Lake Forest, the eventual No. 2 singles champion, and lost 6-0, 6-1 in the semis.

At No. 1 doubles, Labicki and Laughlin teams up to win their first round match. The duo beat the top doubles team from Illinois College 8-7, winning the tiebreaker 7-2. In Sunday's semifinal, Labicki/Laughlin drew the top-seeded team, and eventual champions, from Grinnell and lost 8-0.

At No. 3 singles, Isabel Hammond (Germantown Hills, Illinois) lost in the first round 6-4, 6-1 to Lily Ingram of Illinois College. In a tightly contested consolation semifinal, Hammond fell 8-7 (6) to Tamera Holland of Ripon.

At No. 4 singles, Emily Henson (Geneseo, Illinois) lost to Sara Lopez of Lake Forest 6-0, 6-1 in the first round. She fell 8-3 to Mikhalya Haloftis of Illinois College in the consolation semis.

At No. 2 doubles, Hammond and Henson teamed up to face Lake Forest in the first round on Saturday, falling 8-0. In the consolation semifinals, they fell to Cornell's No. 2 doubles team 8-4.

At No. 5 singles, Jennifer Shimmin (Monmouth, Illinois) fell 6-1, 6-0 to Maggie Fields of Lake Forest in the first round. In the consolation semis she lost to Jasmine Dennis of Illinois College 8-7 (5).

At No. 6 singles, Julia Mheidze (Springfield, Illinois) fell 6-0, 6-0 to Rebecca Daskal of Lake Forest in the first round. She then lost 8-0 to Allison Pavlovec of Ripon College in the consolation semis.

Shimmin and Mheidze teamed up to play No. 3 doubles for the Scots, falling to the Lake Forest squad 8-0 in the first round. In the consolation semifinals, they lost 8-4 to Ripon College.