The Forester women's tennis team suffered a pair of losses at the Midwest Conference Team Championship Tournament on Friday (October 16). Lake Forest fell 5-1 to Beloit College in the semifinals and 5-2 to Grinnell College in the third-place match. Losses in the final dual matches of the season left the team with a 10-6-1 record. St. Norbert College, which defeated Grinnell 5-4 in the semifinals, claimed the league title with a 5-1 triumph over Beloit.

Lake Forest was defeated by Beloit in all three doubles matches, although two of them lasted three sets.

The Foresters' only team point of the match came at #3 singles where senior Molly Stapleton (St. Louis Park, Minn./Saint Louis Park) prevailed 6-0, 6-4. The Buccaneers won at the top two spots in the singles lineup to clinch the contest, so the matches at #4, #5, and #6 singles were not played.

Lake Forest's #1 singles team of freshman Melika Celebic (Visoko, Bosnia Herzegovina/United World College) and sophomore Nonie Carson (Littleton, Colo./Littleton) won 8-5 against Grinnell, but the Pioneers led 2-1 going into singles play.

The Foresters' other team point came at #1 singles where Celebic triumphed 8-6. Grinnell won at #2 and #3 and then clinched the match with another victory at #6.

"I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm proud of our team," commented head coach Chris Pier. "We played well and lost to two outstanding teams."

The league's doubles tournaments will be conducted in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday and the singles competition will follow on Sunday. While points are accumulated throughout the rest of the weekend, the top four spots in the league standings were decided by Friday's team tourney so the Foresters' fourth-place finish is already set.