MADISON, Wis. – Augustana closed out the Midwest Invitational on Saturday, April 7 in Madison, Wisconsin with a 6-3 loss to Hope. It was the third straight loss to a ranked opponent for Head Coach Jon Miedema's crew. The Vikings lost 9-0 to the University of Chicago, ranked 10^th in the nation and first in the NCAA Division III Central Region on Friday, April 6.
 
Following that loss Augustana fell 8-1 to DePauw, which is ranked 39^th nationally and fifth in the region. Hope does not have a national ranking in the top 40 but the Dutch are 10^th in the Central Region. Miedema's team is ranked 19^th in the Central Region according to the latest rankings which were released last week.
 
The Vikings fell behind 2-1 after the doubles round. Juniors Caitlyn Schaffer (Kenwood Academy, Chicago, Ill.) and Madeline Lombardi (Edwardsville HS, Glen Carbon, Ill.)  picked up a 9-8 win at number one doubles over Claire Hallock and Taylor LaBarge. The duo of Schaffer and Lombardi is now 16-12 on the year.
 
It was another 9-8 decision at number two doubles but this time the winner was the Hope team of Amanda Barndrowski and Bailey Chorney over freshman Annie Timm (Prairie Ridge HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) and sophomore Zeana Badawi (Hinsdale Central HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.).
 
The number three doubles match saw the freshman team of Morgan Bullen (Colorado Academy, Lakewood, Colo.) and Maleeha Chowdhury (Rock Canyon HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) fall 8-5 to Natalie Rahrig and Erin LaBarge.
 
When the action switched to singles Augustana was able to carve out wins at numbers two and five. Timm continued her fine singles play with a 6-1; 5-7; 10-5 victory over Hallock at number two. That win raised Timm's record to 22-5 on the year. Chowdhury defeated Chorney 6-2; 7-6 at number five to move to 15-11.
 
Schaffer lost 1-6; 2-6 to Bandrowski at number one and Badawi fell 3-6; 5-7 to LaBarge at number three. Freshman Faith Johnson (Harker Heights HS, Harker Heights, Tex.) dropped a 0-6; 0-6 decision to Rahrig at number four and Bullen lost 3-6; 1-6 to Liz Pniewski at number six.
 
Augustana is now 16-7 on the year and will be in action again on Sunday, April 15 when the Vikings entertain Lake Forest at 9:00 a.m. and Central of Iowa at 3:00 p.m.