The Grinnell College women's tennis team dominated doubles competition at that portion of the 2009 Midwest Conference Championships Saturday at Madison, Wis.
Constanza Alarcon '13 (middle right) and Catherine Fitch '13 (far right) claimed the No. 2 doubles title for the Pioneers, while Jill Akiyama '10 (middle left) and Kelsey Picken '10 (far left) were champs in the No. 3 division. Akiyama and Picken were second at No. 3 a year ago. The title marks Akiyama's sixth Midwest Conference crown to date, as she has also won two singles titles and was part of three league championship teams.
Alarcon and Fitch opened the day with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Ripon College's Megan Sockness and Brooke Deans. In the semifinals, they disposed of Natalie Atroshenko and Molly Stapleton of Lake Forest College 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 and then beat Samantha Bachmann and Alyssa Larson of Carroll University 7-5, 6-1 for the title.
Akiyama and Picken defeated Carroll's Erin Mohrbacker and Cheyanne Urso 6-0, 6-0 in their first match of the day. That was followed by a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sara Bennett and Lauren Stroner of Lake Forest College and then a 6-2, 7-5 decision over St. Norbert College's Maria Slusarek and Kristyn Klind in the title match.
Grinnell's No. 1 doubles team of Toby Cain '12 and Tatyana Sukharnikova '12 lost 6-4, 6-3 to Elissa McKinley and Kate Rasmussen of Carroll in the quarterfinals. They bounced back to beat Chelsey Foster and Josie Ullsperger of Ripon 10-0 in the consolation semifinals before falling 10-4 to Elizabeth Larson and Jennifer Roesch of Lawrence University in the consolation finals.
The MWC Championships conclude Sunday with singles play.
