BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The North Park women's tennis team collected its first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating Illinois Wesleyan 6-1 at Evergreen Racquet Club.
The Vikings secured the doubles point by winning two of three matches. Katharina Schuler and Pia Zitzmann delivered a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles, while Nova Mickelsson and Jessica Dudas added a 6-3 victory at No. 3 doubles to give North Park the early advantage.
North Park carried that momentum into singles play, winning five of six flights. Alexandra Pugachova led the charge with a decisive 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles. Schuler followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2, and Tyra Olsson cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 3.
Dudas provided one of the day's most important performances at No. 4 singles. Facing Olivia Bell, Dudas battled through a tightly contested opening set. After Bell erased a deficit and threatened to seize momentum, Dudas stifled the comeback effort by winning a 7-4 tiebreak to claim the first set 7-6. She then closed out the match with a gritty 6-4 second-set victory.
At No. 6 singles, Thea Gifvars mounted an impressive comeback. After dropping the opening set 6-4 to Lexi Burton, Gifvars responded with a strong 6-2 second-set win before taking control of the super tiebreak, earning a 10-5 victory to secure the match.
The win improves North Park to 2-2 on the season and marks the Vikings' first conference win of 2026.
What's Next?
North Park hosts Roosevelt on Wednesday, September 23, back at River Park Courts. First serve is set for 4:00 PM CT.
