CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa- The American Rivers Conference released its 2025 women's tennis preseason coaches' poll on Wednesday, Aug. 27 and Wartburg was voted to finish third with 46 points.

The Knights begin the regular season on Aug 30 (Sat) in St. Louis against Webster University at 9 a.m. and Illinois College at 1 p.m. 

Complete poll:

1. Coe, 62 points (6 first place votes)
2. Luther, 59 (3 first place votes)
3. Wartburg, 46 points
4. Central, 45 points
5. Dubuque, 35 points
6. Loras, 29 points
7. Nebraska Wesleyan, 25 points
8. Simpson, 15 points
9. Buena Vista, 8 points

A-R-C Preview
The Wartburg College Knights tied for third in 2024 and finished with an 18-10 overall record. Head coach Chris Gustas returns several experienced players, including Brooke Bloom, Tori Johnson, Morgan Kathman, Lily Schreckengast, and Reese Williams. While All-Conference performers Natalie Kaiser and Emma Thurness have graduated, Wartburg expects new faces to step up in a competitive lineup.
 
"So many new roles for players to step into here in terms of on court performance and critical culture builders," said Gustas. "While we've graduated our all-conference performers, we return a great deal of experience and expect to see some new faces in this lineup as well due to last year's development. The A-R-C looks like it'll provide some great competition, and once again, we'll head into several meets knowing we need to play well to win that day. I've got confidence in this group to get it done.'