The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Carlile, Bruning pace Vikings at Brooks Invitational

WINNECONNE, Wis. — Curran Carlile and Clare Bruning were the top finishers for the Lawrence University cross country teams on Saturday at the massive UW-Oshkosh Brooks Invitational.

Carlile completed the 8,000-meter course in 26:16 to finish 67th in miserable weather conditions at Lake Breeze Golf Club. Paced by Carlile, Lawrence finished 26th among the 38 teams.

On the women’s side, Bruning checked in at 65th place after running the 6,000-meter course in 23:26. The Vikings finished 29th among the 37 teams.

Men’s results

Women’s results

Vikings sweep past Bucs; McLeod tops 2,000 assists

BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University volleyball team swept Beloit College in three sets in a Midwest Conference match Friday night at Flood Arena.

Lawrence (6-12, 1-3 MWC) defeated Beloit (2-18, 0-5) 25-13, 25-17, 25-22.

Terese Swords, Jenna Picha and Megan Conley powered the Vikings to the victory. Swords had a match-high 13 kills and a .462 hitting percentage for the match. Picha added 10 kills on a .643 hitting percentage, and Conley added eight kills and hit .462 for the night. The Vikings hit .313 as a team.

Lawrence junior setter Diane McLeod had 37 assists in the match and now has 2,007 for her career. McLeod ranks second on Lawrence’s career list and trails only Georgia Seals, who has 3,100.

Kathleen Rowland picked up 14 digs to pace Lawrence, and Betsy Sorensen added three blocks.

Box score

Ripon shuts out Vikings 2-0

RIPON, Wis. — The Ripon College women’s soccer team scored twice in the first half and went on to a 2-0 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Wednesday.

Brandi Peltier scored in the 23rd minute and Kali Doerr added another goal in the 43rd minute for Ripon (7-5-0, 3-4-0 MWC). Ripon posted a 13-3 edge in shots over the Vikings (3-10-0, 2-4-0).

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Women’s tennis set for MWC Championships

This is the end of the fall season for the Lawrence University women’s tennis team, but it’s a beginning for the Vikings as well.

Lawrence heads into this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison looking for a strong finish to the fall season and build some momentum for the spring campaign.

“We don’t have any seniors playing so it’s good experience for everyone,” Lawrence coach Kevin Girard said. “It’s matches to improve and to look forward to the spring season.”

The Vikings failed to qualify for the four-team MWC Tournament for the first time in three seasons, but Lawrence is still shooting for the best finish it can muster.

“We just want to finish as high as we can, which is fifth,” said Girard, pointing out the four teams in the MWC Tournament on Friday are guaranteed the top four spots.

“Fifth is what we’re going for, but we can get more points than (one of the tournament teams), that’s one of our goals as well.”

Doubles competition is set for Saturday, and the championships finish with singles on Sunday.

“Honestly, if everyone plays as well as they can, they can do a ton of damage in their draws. One through six, we all have a shot,” Girard said.

Sophomore Christina Schaupp, the defending conference champion at No. 4 singles, is playing No. 1 for the Vikings this season and enters the weekend with a 5-9 overall record. Next in the lineup is junior Gayatri Malhotra, who is 10-2 overall and 4-2 since moving up to No. 2 singles last month.

“Gayatri’s tough,” Girard said. “She’s not a fun one to play against, that’s for sure. She doesn’t blow anyone out, but she’s hard to beat. When she gets into a groove, she hits as hard as anyone in the conference. If she gets into that groove against you, you’re in trouble.”

The Vikings round out the singles lineup with sophomore Hannah Geoffrey (9-4), freshman Ali Heiring (8-5), junior Polly Dalton (8-4) and sophomore Melissa Heeren (3-5).

The Vikings team Geoffrey and Heiring at No. 1 doubles, Malhotra and Dalton at No. 2 and Schaupp and sophomore Tess Vogel at No. 3. Geoffrey and Heiring are 8-3 overall and 3-2 since moving to the No. 1 spot.

“If Hannah and Ali are on, they can beat anybody,” Girard said. “Gayatri and Polly are really tough, and Tess and Christina are also playing well.”

Malhotra and Dalton are 8-4 and 5-3 since moving up to No. 2. That’s not bad, especially considering Malhotra had not played very little doubles in college until this season.

“Gayatri is a natural singles player, but this year she has really embraced doubles,” Girard said. “She loves the baseline. She loves her groundstrokes, but she is really working on her footwork and her hands.”

Given the changes in the doubles lineup, Malhotra and Dalton could prove to be a tough out for anyone in the conference.

“Seeding is going to be interesting. They are kind of the wild cards,” Girard said. “You don’t want to draw them in the first round, that’s for sure.”

Clean sweep

For the first time in the brief three-year history of the Gene Davis Invitational, Lawrence won both the men’s and women’s races last Saturday at Reid Golf Course. Junior Curran Carlile won the men’s race for the second time in three seasons, and freshman Clare Bruning took the top spot in the women’s race for her first collegiate title. Lawrence also took the men’s team title.

Nine is fine

The Lawrence women’s tennis team defeated Ripon College 9-0 last Friday, and that marks the second consecutive season Lawrence has shut out the rival Red Hawks. The Vikings now have a record nine consecutive wins over Ripon.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Ripon tops Vikings in four sets

The Ripon College volleyball team rallied late in the final two sets and pulled out a 3-1 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Tuesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Ripon (8-15, 2-2 MWC) defeated the Vikings (5-12, 0-3) 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23.

Lisa Aguilar led Ripon with 14 kills, and Karlye Wehner added 13. Kirbi Dunlavy picked up 41 assists and Brianne Milroy had 29 digs.

Betsy Sorensen led Lawrence with 14 kills and had a .571 hitting percentage for the match. Megan Conley added 11 kills for the Vikings. Diane McLeod had a match-high 44 assists for Lawrence, and Kathleen Rowland picked up 35 digs.

After the teams split the first two sets, Lawrence built a 14-7 lead in the third set. Ripon stormed back to cut the lead to 15-14, and the teams traded points until Ripon took a 22-20 lead. The Red Hawks closed out the sets by trading points with the Vikings.

The fourth set was tied 20-20, but Ripon outscored the Vikings 5-3 down the stretch to close out the match.

Box score

Ripon edges Lawrence in overtime

RIPON, Wis. — The Ripon College men’s soccer team scored with only three seconds left in the first overtime and pulled out a 1-0 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University on Tuesday at Prairie Field.

Derek Saxon scored on a header at 99:57, with just three seconds left before the first overtime was set to expire.

Both teams mustered only nine shots in a contest played in miserable weather conditions. The gametime temperature was 45 degrees with a steady rain falling throughout the contest.

Daniel Mikesell made three saves to record the shutout for Ripon (4-7-1, 2-4-1 MWC). Kevin Aslett made three saves and took the loss for Lawrence (6-6-1, 3-3-1).

Box score

Vikings picked for third in MCHA preseason poll

Lawrence University has been tabbed for third place in the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association preseason poll in a vote by league coaches.

Adrian College was the top choice with 49 points, and the Bulldogs received the maximum of seven first-place votes. MSOE was picked for second with 42 points and got the other first-place vote.

The Vikings were third with 34 points. Lawrence went 13-11-4 last season, including an 11-6-3 mark in conference play.

Marian University was fourth with 28, Concordia (Wis.) University was fifth with 23, Lake Forest College was sixth with 22, Finlandia University was seventh with 20 and Northland College was eighth with eight.

The Vikings open their season Oct. 27 with an exhibition game against the Wisconsin Rampage at the Appleton Family Ice Center.

Smith wins pair of matches at ITA Regional

ST. PETER, Minn. — Lawrence University men’s tennis standout Cooper Smith picked up a pair of victories at the tough Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional.

Smith, a senior from San Diego, Calif., posted a 2-1 record in singles. Smith posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Concordia (Minn.) College’s Devin Larson in his opening match. Smith then rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) victory over Coe College’s Jeff Damisch. Smith’s run at the regional ended with a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Carroll University’s Jack Michael in the third round.

Lawrence’s Brian DeCorte, Craig Sherwood and Jeremy Andereck also took part in the regional.

Results

Green Knights edge Lawrence 5-4

The St. Norbert College women’s tennis team won four of the six singles matches to pull out a 5-4 Midwest Conference North Division victory over Lawrence University on Sunday at the Lawrence Courts.

Lawrence (8-6, 2-2 MWC) got doubles victories from Gayatri Malhotra and Polly Dalton at No. 2 and from Christina Schaupp and Tess Vogel at No. 3.

Malhotra also picked up a dominating win at No. 2 singles and Hannah Geoffrey won a supertiebreaker to pull out the victory at No. 3 singles.

Box score