EDMOND, Oklahoma - The No. 17-ranked Washburn University Ichabods eked out a 4-3 dual victory over the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats in the semifinals of the 2021 MIAA Women's Tennis Tournament.

Washburn (16-1) advances to the MIAA title match to take on Central Oklahoma Saturday at 2 p.m. Northwest (11-7 overall) will look to receive an NCAA Tournament bid in the Central Region.

The Ichabods took a 1-0 lead in the dual by scoring wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.

Washburn moved the lead to 3-0 by securing victories at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. WU's Maria Soler Valverde tallied a 6-2, 6-1 win over Northwest's Tessa Kwakernaak at No. 3 singles. WU's Maja Jung held off Northwest's Angela per Moreno at No. 3 singles, 7-5, 6-2.

The Bearcats got on the board at No. 5 singles when Sofia Pignataro put together a 6-2, 6-4 win over WU's Logan Morrissey.

Northwest's Vera Alenicheva achieved her 15th win of the season in a three-set match with WU's Marta Torres at No. 1 singles. Alenicheva pulled Northwest to within 3-2 with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win.

Northwest's Julia Aliseda evened the dual at 3-3 with a three-set triumph of her own at No. 2 singles. Aliseda took down WU's Svea Crohn 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. Aliseda improved her season record to 14-3 overall.

The dual victory boiled down to a three-set thriller at No. 6 singles. WU's Cadence Lynn gained an early edge with a 6-4 first-set win over Northwest's Victoria Caster. Caster returned the favor with a 6-4 victory of her own in the second. Caster opened up a 4-1 lead in the third set only to see Lynn battle back. Caster led 5-4 when Lynn rattled off two games to take a 6-5 lead. Caster was able to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Lynn did not trail in the tiebreaker after taking a 2-0 lead. Lynn clinched the Ichabod dual win with a 7-4 triumph in the third-set tiebreaker. Caster is 12-6 on the season and dropped her first match of the season at No. 6 singles to fall to 10-1.