NORTH NEWTON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) --- The McPherson College women's tennis team defeated Bethel College, 6-3, Thursday afternoon at the Ward Tennis Center to earn a share of a fifth consecutive Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) regular-season title.
The Bulldogs (8-2, 8-1 KCAC) won the two contested doubles matches without conceding a point.
Brittany Zipf (Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, Emmaus College) and
Besa Bwalya (Hoisington, Kan., Hoisington HS) defeated Rachel Herzog and Serena Wong at the No. 1 spot, while
Zoë Bouwmeester (Zutphen, Netherlands, Isendoorn College) and
Deiah Curtis (Great Bend, Kan., Bethany College) shut out Kimberly Buzbee and Erica Ebenkamp at the No. 2 spot.
Zipf made it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Herzog at No. 1 singles. Bouwmeester followed with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Wong at No. 3 before Bwalya topped Buzbee, 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 2 spot to clinch the match.
Curtis closed out the dual with a come-from-behind 9-7 win over Ebenkamp at No. 4 singles.
Bethel (12-5, 5-4 KCAC) picked up forfeit wins at third doubles and fifth and sixth singles.
McPherson advances to next week's KCAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed after splitting the KCACÂ regular-season crown with (RV) Southwestern College and Tabor College. All three teams went 1-1 head-to-head against the other two schools, but the Lady Builders (10) and Bluejays (9) came out ahead of the Bulldogs (8) in individual match wins in those head-to-head matches.
The Bulldogs will host No. 6-seed Kansas Wesleyan University (5-9, 4-5 KCAC) in a first-round matchup Monday afternoon. A start time has yet to be determined. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinal round Friday, April 27, against No. 2-seed Tabor at Kossover Tennis Complex in Topeka.
