The 30th-ranked Denison women's tennis team finished fifth at the 2015 Midwest Invitational after upsetting a pair of nationally-ranked opponents on Saturday in Madison, Wis. The Big Red opened the day with a 5-4 win over #22 Hope, and secured fifth-place at the tournament with a 5-1 decision over #29 Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Against the Flying Dutch, Denison avenged a 7-2 setback from eight days ago at the Mitchell Fieldhouse in Granville, Ohio. The only different result in doubles play from the last meeting proved to be an important one. At the second flight, freshmen Rochell Issa and Courtney Brown, who fell 8-5 to Claire Cooper and Kelly Daniel in their previous meeting, won an 8-4 decision over Hope duo.

Similar to the last meeting, senior Heather Abzug and sophomore Emily Holloway won at the third flight (8-2), while juniors Taylor Hawkins and Meg Chiumento suffered an 8-4 decision to Nancy Benda and Carli Capestany, the No. 1 team in the central division.

Singles play was significantly different on Saturday as the two squads split the six flights. Hawkins earned her first win over a top-10 player in the region as she defeated Benda in straight sets (7-5, 6-1). Brown improved to 2-0 this season against Cooper thanks to a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles. Issa earned DU's third singles point with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Anna Garcia, who she previous lost to 6-3, 7-5.

In the fifth-place match against the Warhawks, the Big Red took a commanding 3-0 lead after doubles in a match that would only be played to a decision. Abzug and junior Sarah Torrence got things started with an 8-4 win over Ashley Miller and Alicia Beck. DU needed tiebreakers to earn the other two points. The teams of Hawkins/Chiumento and Brown/Issa both won 9-8 decision with 7-5 tiebreaker scores. The win by Hawkins and Chiumento came over the No. 7 team in the region, Megan Humphreys and Jillian Wallace.

Chiumento and Issa secured the win with victories at third and fourth singles, respectively. Issa won a straight-set decision over Wallace (7-5, 6-2) to push the Big Red's lead to 4-1. Chiumento scored the deciding point with a three-set victory over Alexandra Talyansky. After dropping the opening set 7-6 (7-3), the junior rebounded by winning the next two sets 6-3, 6-1.

The Big Red (11-4) posted a 3-1 record at the Midwest Invitational and improved to 4-4 against nationally-ranked opponents. Denison returns to action on Thursday (April 9) when they travel to Oberlin, Ohio to take on the Yeowomen. Match time is scheduled for 5 p.m.