CHICAGO, Ill. -- North Park Women's Tennis enjoyed a come-from-behind senior day win against Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings honored senior captain Katja Carlberg before the match and the cherry on top was a 4-3 win for the Vikings.

The Vikings played a pair of close Doubles matches but lost all three, not the start they were hoping for at the River Park Courts. Carlberg and Emilia Sand played a tight 7-5 match as did Alexandra Pugachova and Thea Gifvars at 6-4, but North Park still trailed 1-0 going into Singles play.

To start Singles play, five of the six Vikings singles players jumped out to early leads. Carlberg and Pugachova enjoyed dominant wins - 6-1, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-4 respectively while Sand also took care of business in two frames - 6-3, 6-2. 

Jessica Dudas would seal North Park's fourth point. After a close 7-6 loss in the opener, the freshman would turn around to steal away the next two sets 6-4 and 7-5 to upend the Titans.

"Today was a battle, and the Vikings came out on top!" exclaimed Coach Alice Copland. "We were behind after doubles, but that didn't stop us. Singles has always been strong for us and today it paid off. Every court was playing strong and fighting for every point. Thea and Jessica had the closest matches, both losing their first set in a tiebreak, but coming back in the second set to take it to a decider. Jessica was down 5-2 in the third set, and won five games in a row to clinch the win for NPU. It was definitely the highlight of our season. I'm so proud of what the team accomplished today, especially getting the win for our captain, Katja, on her senior day!"

What's Next?

North Park (4-5, 3-4 CCIW) has another CCIW home match on Saturday, October 18, hosting Wheaton at 11:00 AM CT.