The St. Catherine University tennis team may have had its regular season end in less than ideal fashion with two tough 5-4 losses to the College of Saint Benedict and the University of St. Thomas, but senior Victoria Bravo (Tucson, Ariz.) was as impressive as she has been all season helping the Wildcats clinch the No. 4 seed in their fourth-consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff appearance. For her efforts, she has been named the Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
In the Wildcats' match against Saint Benedict, Bravo defeated the Blazers' No. 1 singles player Daley Rupar to keep her MIAC singles record untainted. But the win wasn't easy for Bravo and she took the first 7-6 after a tiebreaker situation before finally shutting Rupar down 6-1 for a straight set victory.
Against the Tommies, Bravo's wins were even more impressive as she found success both in singles and doubles. In singles, Bravo took down one of the top MIAC players Shelby Henderson at the top spot. The senior battled her way to a win, though. She dropped the first set 3-6 to Henderson and squeaked out another 7-6 win in the second set to force a third-set dciding tie breaker. Bravo then won 10-7 to finish off her MIAC singles season at a perfect 9-0. In doubles play against the Tommies, Bravo and Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn.) took down the top ranked MIAC doubles pair in the central region poll in Bridget Noack and Kara Lefsrud with a close 9-7 victory.
With her singles wins, Bravo closed out her MIAC regular season singles career at a perfect 19-0 winning all but one match in straight sets. Thus far, she is 29-4 in her singles career with her losses all coming to top-ranked national and regional opponents in non-conference matches.
Bravo and the Wildcats begin MIAC postseason play in a quarterfinal matchup against St. Olaf College Tuesday at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center at 3 p.m. in Minneapolis.
