WHITEWATER – The Carthage women's tennis team opened the 2024-25 season at the Warhawk Invitational at Wis-Whitewater on Saturday afternoon. It was a strong opening day for the Firebirds, as the team came away with a sixth place finish to kick off the year.

1. Grinnell - 46
2. Wis-Whitewater - 44
3. Luther - 32
4. Wis-Eau Claire - 26
5. Wis-La Crosse - 25
6. Carthage - 22
7. Wis-Oshkosh - 17
8. Augustana - 10

 

SINGLES TOURNAMENT

Xingchen Liu competed in the 1 Singles bracket for the Firebirds. Liu opened with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Wis-La Crosse's Lauren Lindow. Liu then defeated Wis-Eau Claire's Samantha Fuchs 4-6, 6-1 (10-6) to advance to the championship match. Liu would ultimately fall in a tight 4-6, 6-2 (12-10) match to Wis-Whitewater's Cassie Lee. Liu earned seven points for the Firebirds.

Maddie Kearney competed in the 2 Singles bracket for Carthage. Kearney fell in the opening round 6-0, 6-0 to Whitewater's Gracie Ha, before being defeated by La Crosse's Emma Heinert 8-3. Kearney would then win the seventh place match 8-2 over Maitreyi Shrikhande of Augustana to earn two points for the team score.

Larissa Ishikawa competed in the 3 Singles bracket to open the season. Ishikawa dropped the opening round match to Sarah Ferguson of Whitewater 6-3, 6-0. The second round went in Ishikawa's favor with an 8-6 victory over Augustana's Mikayla Kelly. Ishikawa would lose the consolation final to Eau Claire's Beatriz Felchak 8-6 and score three points for the Firebirds.

DOUBLES TOURNAMENT

Sasha Manojlovic and Giovanna Mendes competed in the 1 Doubles bracket, where they dropped the opening match 8-2 to Whitewater. The duo bounced back with a second round win over Augustana with an 8-3 performance. Manojlovic and Mendes went on to win the consolation final with a tight 8-7 (13-11) victory over Luther. Four points were awarded to the Firebirds for the performance.

Greta Peterson and Niki Manojlovic opened their day in the 2 Doubles bracket with an 8-0 defeat to Grinnell. The pair rebounded with an 8-1 win over Eau Claire to advance to the consolation final. The duo went on to lose their final match 8-7 (7-3). Carthage earned three points in the bracket.

Marie Weis and Victoria Rizzo teamed up in 3 Doubles to open the campaign. The duo dropped their first round match to Eau Claire 8-2, before defeating Wis-Oshkosh 8-2 to advance to the consolation final. Rizzo and Weis were defeated by La Crosse 8-4 and earned three points for the team.


 
The Firebirds return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 4 as the squad opens conference play on the road at Elmhurst at 3 p.m. Carthage women's tennis returns to Smeds Tennis Center on Sept. 11 as the Firebirds host North Central. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.