AL STRAIN STAFF WRITER
The Knights women’s tennis team topped Simpson College during Iowa Conference play Saturday 8-1.
The Knights also had victories over Grinnell and William Jewell College out of Missouri.
On Saturday, the Knights took a triangular meet that also included Simpson and William Jewell in Indianola.
“The William Jewel College match was a tight match. They were a tough team, beating Central the day before.
The girls were up to the challenge and came out on top,” head coach Matthew Tyler said.
Against Simpson the Knights received a strong performance from Molly Eslick, who needed three sets to defeat Tanya Ratana of William Jewell College.
“Molly Eslick has been a standout performer all season long,” Tyler said.
The Knights would win three more of the singles matches with wins from Leanna Nelson, Jenny Dallenbach and Claire Evans.
“Claire Evans was playing her first varsity match against William Jewel College and was able to win at the number six spot as a freshmen,” Tyler said.
In the doubles competition against William Jewell College, the Knights would take two of the three matches.
Two of these matches included a win from Eslick and Nelson.
The Knights would defeat William Jewell College by a final of 6-3.
The Knights also faced Simpson in the triangular, coming out victorious, 8-1.
Earlier in the week the Knights toppled Grinnell at home.
The match was all Wartburg from the beginning as the Knights swept the singles competition.
Emily Heying had a strong performance for the Knights as she defeated Tatyana Sukharnikova in straight sets with finals of 6-0 and 6-2.
Wartburg would need three set tiebreaker wins from Lindsay Greiner and Leanna Jenkins to finish the singles competition 6-0.
Wartburg went on to take two of the three doubles matches to wrap up their match against Grinnell.
The week moved Wartburg to 9-3 on the season.
The next match for the Knights will be Tuesday when they face Upper Iowa at 4 p.m. at home.
“They will be a tough opponent being a Division II school, so if we could get a win, that would be fantastic,” Tyler said.
Photo: Jenny Dallenbach serves a volley against Grinnell College. Dallenbach has won three straight matches and is second on the team in wins. Photo courtesy of Sports Information