The 2025 Midwest Conference Women's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll was released on Thursday and Lake Forest College was second in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head women's tennis coaches. Each coach votes for the other six teams in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (six points for first, five for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Lake Forest has been the league's runner-up each of the last six years after claiming the MWC title in the fall of 2018. The team's 31 points in the poll were just five fewer than top-ranked Grinnell College's total and the Foresters garnered one first-place vote while the Pioneers had six. Cornell College and Illinois College were next with 26 and 19 points, respectively. Lawrence University, Ripon College, and Monmouth College rounded out the field.
The Foresters return the last two MWC Players of the Year and Newcomers of the Year in Sofia Strupovets and Lilli Dockal. They claimed titles at the top two spots in the singles lineup as well as at #1 doubles at the 2024 MWC Individual Tournament and Lake Forest also added a championship at #5 singles by Anika Kinnear. The 2024-25 Foresters posted an overall record of 17-4 to match the third-highest victory total in team history and finished second in the MWC at 5-1 in league play. They also advanced to the final of the four-team MWC Tournament, a feat they have accomplished each of the last seven times the event was held.
Under sixth-year head coach Scot Reinhart, Lake Forest will open the season at home against Elmhurst University on Saturday, August 30, and the Foresters will begin conference play two weeks later against visiting Illinois College and Monmouth College. The team's regular season fall schedule includes a total of six league and five non-conference dual matches and the Foresters will also compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition, all seven league members will convene in Madison for the MWC Individual Tournament October 18-19.
The top four teams in the regular season league standings will earn spots in the MWC Tournament, which will be held in the spring on Saturday, May 2. The winner of the event will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins later in May.
Lake Forest will also travel to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for Spring Break and play additional dual matches in March and April.
| PLACE |
TEAM (First Place Votes) |
POINTS |
| 1 |
Grinnell College (6) |
36 |
| 2 |
Lake Forest College (1) |
31 |
| 3 |
Cornell College |
26 |
| 4 |
Illinois College |
19 |
| 5 |
Lawrence University |
14 |
| 6 |
Ripon College |
11 |
| 7 |
Monmouth College |
10 |
