Anderson, Nash advance to semifinals at IIAC Tourney

CEDAR RAPIDS - Allison Anderson and Lindsay Nash each advanced to the semifinals of the Flight C Singles at the Iowa Conference Individual Tournament, highlighting Simpson's performance on Friday.

Anderson (Eldridge, Iowa) cruised through her first two matches of the day, blanking Coe's Mak Allison and Buena Vista's Melanie Pham, 8-0. The second seed in the flight, Anderson battled 10th-seeded Nichole Schmatlz of Dubuque in the quarterfinals. Anderson advanced with a hard-fought, 8-6 win and will face third-seeded Haley Henrichs of Buena Vista tomorrow.

Simpson's other semifinalist, fifth-seeded Nash (Keokuk, Iowa) didn't yield more than four sets against her Friday. After a first-round bye, Nash eased past Dubuque's Jackie Ventrice, 8-1. Next, she doubled up Cornell's Wanda Carter, 8-4 before handling Dubuque's Spenser Smith, 8-1 in the quarterfinals. Nash meets top-seeded Megan Anderson of Buena Vista tomorrow.

The doubles team of Mikayla Struebing (Indianola, Iowa) and Anderson remains alive in Flight B Doubles, advancing to Saturday's semifinals with a pair of wins Friday. The No. 5-seed in the flight, Struebing and Anderson defeated Nuehring and Peterson of Wartburg in the first round, 8-2. The pair advanced by default in the the second round before knocking off Dubuque's team of Bridgett and Mcwethy, 8-4. Their next opponent is top-seeded Bordignon and Hoffman of Coe.

Jill Berner (Albia, Iowa), the No. 1 seed in Flight B Singles, earned a win over Wartburg's Michelle McKenzie, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (7). Claire Evans of Wartburg knocked Berner out in the next round, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Whitney Thompson (Bloomfield, Iowa) picked up a pair of wins in Flight C Singles, where Lynae Gruber (Shenandoah, Iowa), Dara Sam (Des Moines, Iowa), Maggie McDevitt (Sioux City, Iowa) and Lauren Schemmel (Blue Grass, Iowa) also picked up a win apiece.