The Millikin women's tennis team finished out their historic fall season with a third place finish at College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships held October 21-23 at Centre Court in Hanover Park.
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The Big Blue defeated Augustana College 5-2 in the third-place match after finishing in second place in the regular-season standings.
Millikin started off strong with a No. 1 doubles victory by Markus and Willer 8-1. The Big Blue picked up a second win as doubles finished in order with Obradovic and Chloe Sabin (Lees Summit, Mo., Lees Summit West H.S.) victorious 8-3. In the final doubles match to finish, the partnership of Shelby Jones (Alton, Marquette Catholic H.S.) and Destiny Galvan (Levelland, Texas, H.S.) fell behind 2-5, Galvan and Jones won six straight sets to pull off the 8-5 match victory and complete the doubles sweep.
From there, the Big Blue just needed to win two singles matches to eliminate Illinois Wesleyan and move on to the semifinals. Brianna Barconi (South Elgin, H.S.) picked up a 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3. Markus provided the second singles win in comeback fashion. After Markus defeated Wesleyan's Cooper in the first set 6-1, she fell behind 2-3 in the second set. Markus rallied back to lift Millikin over Wesleyan with a 6-3 second set win.
Millikin got off to a 2-1 advantage in doubles play. At No. 1 doubles, the partnership of Emily Markus (Irvine, Calif., University H.S.) and Paige Willer (Decatur, Mt. Zion H.S.) won 8-7 needing a 7-0 tiebreaker to take the victory. Markus and Willer fell behind 0-5 in the match, mounting a comeback to pick up a win for the Big Blue. Nikol Obradovic (San Jose, Calif., Prospect H.S.) and Cristina Borunda (Chihuahua, Mexico) paired up at No. 2 to win 8-3.
After Augustana tied the match at 2-2. Markus tallied her second win of the day in singles with 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2. Taylor Milholland (Westville, H.S.) stepped in at the No. 6 spot and posted twin 6-1 set victories. The final singles win was tallied by Borunda with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Reese at No. 5.
Millikin lost its semifinal match vs. Wheaton College 5-1 on October 22. Millikin’s lone win was at number won doubles with Markus and Willer winning 8-6.
The Big Blue opened the CCIW Tournament with a 5-0 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University.
