Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 20, No. 1 seed William Woods University (9-7) finished its dominant, short run to the first-ever Heart of America Athletic Conference women's tennis championship by routing (RV), No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist University (13-8) 4-1 in the final Saturday at Plaza Tennis Center.

"I'm so proud of the girls and our victory today," William Woods tennis coach Abigail Lemberger Hughes said. "We had to make some lineup changes due to illness, but that didn't stop them. They locked in and stepped up to the challenge. The team culture and love for their teammates showed in a great 4-1 victory. Nationals, here we come!"

One of the top doubles duos in the nation kicked-started the Owls' run to the title as Hanna Lindeboom and Mireia Simon Sanchez, ranked 27th in the latest ITA NAIA women's tennis rankings, cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Spartans' No. 1 doubles pair. Missouri Baptist pushed it to a doubles-point deciding third matchup after its No. 3 doubles team beat Zara Littlejohn and Samya Sikand 6-4. 

Exchanging games after games, sets after sets, William Woods finally earned the doubles point when Kristina Dimitrijevic and Charlotte Ready prevailed in a 7-6 tiebreaker over the Spartans' two-line pair.

Ready finished her strong Heart Championships showing, opening singles play with a 6-2, 7-5 victory at the six slot. Despite not playing in most of the Owls' matches this season, Ready went 2-0 in doubles and singles in the conference tournament.

Then, Lindeboom, ranked 29th in the latest ITA NAIA women's tennis singles rankings, brought The Woods to within one point of clinching the team win after she took a 6-0, 6-3 decision at the top position. Lindeboom went 2-0 between singles and doubles in her final conference championship as an Owl.

Not going down without a fight, the Spartans avoided getting swept with Simon Sanchez falling 6-3, 6-2 to their No. 2 singles player.

Dimitrijevic thrived in big moments Saturday, as she handed William Woods the history-making Heart title with her 6-4, 6-4 triumph in No. 3 singles.

Considering the Owls beat the Spartans by a tight 4-3 margin in their first meeting this season on April 9 in St. Louis, William Woods's three-point win against Missouri Baptist the second time around was made to be more impressive.

Even more excellent than that, the Owls won their ninth straight conference championship since women's tennis was brought back to The Woods in 2015-16. And, that's 9-for-9 because the 2019-20 season was cut short due to COVID-19.

William Woods has won a third of its conference championships versus Missouri Baptist - this season, last year and in 2017-18.

The Owls' postseason journey continues in the 24-team 44th Annual NAIA Women's Tennis National Championships, which will take place from May 13-17 at Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama. The national championships are a single-elimination, dual-match tournament with 15 automatic berths and nine at-large selections. WWU's first-round opponent has yet to be determined.