The College of DuPage Women's Tennis team opened their 2025-2026 campaign on the road on Saturday afternoon, where they lost to a very strong Sauk Valley Community College team by a score of 8-1. The day was highlighted by the efforts of Kathy Johns, who won at #4 singles by a score of 6-0, 6-0 to give the Chaps their only point on the day.

Despite the results against a very strong Skyhawk team, Coach Jim Bowers liked what he saw from his young team in their first match of the season and also highlighted the areas for improvement.

" We had many bright spots during our matches. Lily Caron has a lively arm and can generate some velocity on her serve but we need to work on her consistency. Lexi Oloffson is very fast but needs to work on hitting deeper balls and Ava Bartels is very smart on the court but we need to work on her dictating the points instead of reacting. And it was great to see Kathy Johns, show great poise on the court. We are hoping she can continue her winning ways!

Coach Bowers added " I was very happy with the athleticism from all of our players and we hope to close the gap with some quality practice sessions in the next week."

The Chaps will have some time off before their second match of the Fall, when they travel to Moraine Valley on Tuesday, Sept 16 before their home opener on Sept 18 vs Waubonsee.