Results

After winning its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship in undefeated fashion, the pressure was on for the St. Catherine University tennis team as it entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed Saturday. 

In the semifinal match against No. 4-seeded University of St. Thomas, the Wildcats knew their rematch with the Tommies was going to be a battle. Unfortunately, the Wildcats suffered their first loss to an MIAC opponent this season with a 5-3 loss to the Tommies Saturday in St. Peter, Minn. 

The match opened with competitive doubles play by both teams. But as they have all season, the Wildcats took an advantage heading into singles play with a 2-1 decision over the Tommies. 

Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D.) and Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn.) left their doubles record in MIAC play untarnished as they cruised to an 8-2 victory over Brittany Alexander and Claire Elkin at No. 3 doubles. 

After beating the Tommies' Shelby Henderson and Mary Allen in convincing fashion in their first matchup, Victoria Bravo (Tucson, Ariz.) and Kylie Ketcho (Edina, Minn.) had their work cut out this go-round at No. 1 doubles. The two managed to pull off a thrilling 8-6 win to give the Wildcats the 2-1 advantage heading into singles play. 

Bravo continued her dominance at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set win over Henderson to give the Wildcats a 3-1 advantage.  With the win, Bravo improves to a perfect 11-0 against MIAC foes this season. 

That was the only singles victory the Wildcats would have, though. At No. 2 singles, Michaela Burroughs (Waterloo, Neb.) won the first set against Allen by a score of 6-3, before falling 6-4 in the second set. She then battled back after being down 4-1 in the tiebreaker to 5-4, but eventually fell 6-4 to help the Tommies even the score at 3-3. 

Bridget Noack and Rachel Wright then won at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively, to officially end the Wildcats' MIAC playoff run. 

The Tommies will face Carleton College in the MIAC Championship match Saturday evening to fight for the MIAC playoff title and conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. 

With just their second loss of the season, the Wildcats are now 15-2 overall. 

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