John Carroll senior All-American Lauren O'Malley made history Monday by becoming the first John Carroll player and the first player from the Ohio Athletic Conference to capture an ITA title by winning the singles crown at the 2018 ITA Central Region Championships held at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

O'Malley, who was seeded third, began the tournament with victories over Caitlyn Schaffer-Harris of Augustana (6-1, 6-2), Mackenziie Willis of Ohio Northern (6-0, 6-0) and Lisa Chionis of Washington U (6-2, 6-1).

In the round of 16, she ran into her first seeded opponent, Nicole Semenov of Chicago. O'Malley defeated the #9 seed by a 6-3 6-2 count.

O'Malley then beat Eugenia Lee, also of Chicago, by a 6-4 6-3 tally in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal with the top seed, Clair Handa of Chicago.

Facing a player who was the 2017 Central Region champion as well as both a singles and doubles All-American in 2018, O'Malley cruised to a 6-1 6-0 victory to reach the title match.

O'Malley would take on her fourth consecutive opponent from the power University of Chicago program in the final, Marjorie Antohi, the #2 seed. A singles and doubles All-American from a year ago who was also the ITA Central region Rookie of the Year in 2016-17, Antohi was the first to take a set from O'Malley in the tournament. After O'Malley won the opening frame 7-6, Antohi forced a third set with a 6-4 win in set two.

In the decisive final set, O'Malley would prevail by a 6-4 score.

O'Malley is now 87-6 as a singles player in her career at John Carroll.

The ITA Tournament featured a number of strong efforts by the Blue Streaks. Ellie Cole and Alyssa Krupp both had wins in the championship draw of singles play, while Madisyn Rini (two wins) and Megan Reese picked up victories in the consolation bracket.

On the doubles side, O'Malley and Rini went 2-1 in the championship draw, while Reese and Skye Harwood were 1-1. In the consolation bracket, Krupp and Emily Day picked up an win.

Earlier in the fall, John Carroll competed in tournaments held at Oberlin and Kenyon. 

Oberlin
Kenyon

At the Oberlin Invitational, Reese (2-0), Krupp (2-0) and O'Malley (1-0) went undefeated in singles play as JCU won ten of 18 matches. In doubles, the duos of Reese and Harwood as well as Krupp and Day both finished the event at 2-1.

The Kenyon College Invitational was a success as well as three John Carroll players won their respective flights (out of eight total). O'Malley went 3-0 and won the "A" Flight, Carlye Campagna went 3-0 to capture the "G" Flight, and Ellie Cole was 2-0 in taking the "H" Flight.

The best doubles showing at Kenyon was produced by Reese and Harwood, who reached the semifinals of the "C" Flight.