FREELAND, Mich. -- Senior Ashley Spirrison (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) has been named this week's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week following her strong performance at the 2021 ITA Central Regional Championships this past weekend where she finished the singles draw in the Round of 16.
This is the sixth time in her career and the first time this season that Spirrison has nabbed the award.
Spirrison opened competition on Friday with a quick win over her opponent from Wittenberg University, Sydney Khosla, 6-0, 6-0. Later on Friday, she would advance again after defeating Sophia Huynh of Washington (Mo.) University with scores of 6-1, 3-6 (10-8).
The second victory secured her a spot on the second day of the event, but it also meant a matchup with the No. 1 overall seed at the event. Sylwia Mikos from the University of Chicago would prove to be too much for Spirrison ending her bid with a 0-6, 0-6 loss. Mikos would go on to win the singles event and be named champion.
Spirrison and doubles partner Ellie Cole (Albion, Ind. / Central Noble) represented the Thunder in the doubles bracket. They dropped their first match 8-3 to the fourth-seeded team from Kenyon. The team proceeded to bounce back in the consolation bracket, picking up their first win of the weekend in the first round by the score of 8-4.
The win gave them a bye to the quarterfinals where they faced off with a pair from Millikin University and came away with a second win by the score of 8-6. In the semifinals the Thunder came up just short of their opponents from Denison College by the score of 8-6.