ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University tennis team played the toughest stretch of their season in the past two weeks. They played three of the top four teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in the past three weeks, including the University of St. Thomas. The Wildcats fell to the top team in the MIAC and No. 10 team in the Region 9-0 on Sunday, but not for lack of effort by senior Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn. / Brainerd). Salo played phenomenal tennis over the weekend, taking a set from the Tommies No. 1 singles player. For her effort, Salo has been named Wildcat Athlete of the Week.
As St. Kate’s No. 1 singles player, Salo traditionally faces the top singles player for the opponent. On Sunday, that was Bridget Noack, who is currently ranked No. 16 in singles play in the Central Region. Noack’s ranking did not faze Salo, who opened the match with a 6-3 win against the ranked opponent. Noack took the second set by the same score, forcing the third and final tiebreaker. Salo fought Noack for every point in the final set, but lost in heartbreaking fashion to lose the match 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).
Salo was also a member of the No. 1 doubles team in the match against St. Thomas. She and teammate Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D. / Mitchell) fell to the Tommies No. 1 team 8-6, which was the closest doubles match of the evening.
After Sunday, Salo is now 3-4 in singles play and 3-2 in doubles this 2016 season. Her 42 career wins in singles play is No. 6 all-time in St. Kate’s history, and her 50-10 career record in doubles play is No. 5 all-time.
Salo and her teammates will play one more match before heading on Spring Break. St. Kate’s will host the Saint Mary’s University Cardinals at 6 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center at 6 p.m. this Friday. Then, they will travel to Orlando, Florida to play four matches over the break.
