Recap courtesy of head women's tennis coach Karl Clifton-Soderstrom: 

CHICAGO–

North Park vs Alverno College

NPU won 9-0

Doubles

#1: Linn Viuhkonen/Linnea Love. def. Danielle Hood/Lia Hutchins. 8-1

#2: Grace Pavlak/McKenzie Harrison def. Michelle Alexander/Aaliyah McAfee. 8-1

#3: NPU won by default.

Singles

#1:  Linn Viuhkonen def. Michelle Alexander 7-5, 6-0

#2: Linnea Love def. Lia Hutchins 6-4, 6- 2

#3: Lisa Viuhkonen def. Dani Hood. 6-2, 6-3

#4: Katie Chleboun def. Aaliyah Mcafee 6-0, 6-1

#5: Asmina Brahimi def. Ashley Boston 6-0, 6-0

#6 NPU won by default

Highlights:

First official college wins for Lisa Viuhkonen and Asmina Brahimi

Story:

In the #1 and #2 singles matches, Alvero opened with some strong competitive baseline play.  Linn and Linnea struggled to adjust their strategies against their opponent's solid groundstrokes.  In the second sets, however, the North Park players played a more varied game mixing short and deep balls and different spin techniques to throw their opponents off.

Lisa Viuhkonen showed great potential as a new player, in a very competitive and long match against her opponent.  She kept a solid mental edge through the tough competition and emerged victoriously.

North Park vs. Wisconsin Lutheran College

NPU won 7-1

Doubles

#1: Linn Viuhkonen/Linnea Love. def. Amanda Wiertzng/Hannah Gerbing. 8-1

#2: Lisa Viuhkonen/Katie Chleboun vs. Reebee Ratkowski/Natalee Douanguilay 4-0 (called for rain)

#3: Grace Pavlak/McKenzie Harrison def. Amanda Las/Emily Lovendahl 8-0

Singles

#1:  Linn Viuhkonen def. Amanda Wiertzng 6-4, 6-2

#2: Linnea Love def. Hannah Gerbing 1-6, 6-3, 10-1

#3: Lisa Viuhkonen def. Katarina Volkman 4-1 (NPU won by default due to injury)

#4: Katie Chleboun def. Reebee Ratkowski 6-4, 6-4

#5: Grace Pavlak def. Natalee Douanguilay 6-4, 6-2

#6: Amanda Las def. McKenzie Harrison 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

The team was excited to play this first match on their brand new courts at River Park.  

The match started off heavily in WLC favor.  In all singles matches, WLC took the early lead and it looked like North Park would have a difficult fight.  Linnea Love regained her footing in the second set and never looked back winning a decisive 2nd and 3rd set.  Grace Pavlak had a great win at #5 in her first singles match of the season.  

Quote:  "It was a strong day of tennis for our team, and a great pair of wins to open the season with on our new courts.  I was proud of all the women for their mental toughness and consistent play.  In particular, the new players on the team did a fantastic job in their opening matches.  We have our work cut out for us when we start playing in our conference next week, and will have to continue to build up better doubles strategies to improve.  But there is a solid foundation on this young team to have a great season."

–NPU–