Results After two-straight 5-4 losses to end the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular season Saturday and Sunday, the St. Catherine University tennis team hoped to end its losing streak in the opening quarterfinal round of the MIAC playoffs. And thanks to several critical wins in singles play, the Wildcats were able to advance to the semifinal round of the conference playoffs after defeating St. Olaf College 5-4 Tuesday afternoon at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.
The No. 4-seed Wildcats returned to their winning ways in doubles as they opened up taking two of the three matchups over the No. 5-seed Oles. At the No. 2 position,
Maria Koval (Green Bay, Wis.) and
Kylie Ketcho (Edina, Minn.) rebounded after two losses on the weekend cruising to a 8-2 win over the Oles' Bailey Kent and Andrea Jumes. The No. 1 Wildcat pair of
Victoria Bravo (Tucson, Ariz.) and
Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn.) won their second-straight doubles decision after battling Alisa Hall and Maya MacGibbon to a 8-4 decision.
Heading into singles play, the Wildcats appeared to be in control as they held a 2-1 lead and took the first set in three of the singles matches.
Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn.) helped the Wildcats go up 3-2 after
Megan Buysse (Redwood Falls, Minn.) dropped the first singles matchup at the No. 6 spot to Kent. Knoll cruised to a 6-2 victory over Lizzie Carlson in the first set, before working in the second to a 6-4 decision for the straight-set victory at No. 5 singles.
The Wildcats then jumped out to a 4-2 lead as Bravo extended her winning streak against MIAC opponents to 21-straight victories at No. 1 singles. The senior held on in the first set to gain a 7-6 win thanks to a 8-6 tiebreaker over Hall. She then gained momentum heading into the second set that she eventually took 6-3 for her 15th singles win of the year.
To decide the match, Salo took the long route to victory at the No. 4 spot. The sophomore narrowly dropped the first set 7-5 to Erin Hynes before roaring back into the match with a 6-0 shutout win in the second. Because the match had not yet been decided when the third set began, Salo and Hynes were forced to play a complete final set as opposed to a tiebreker because MIAC playoff rules. Salo eventually took Hynes down 6-4 in the third set to help the Wildcats clinch a spot in the MIAC semifinals.
The match was decided at the 5-2 point in the match, but the Oles managed to win the final two matches on the floor. At the No. 3 position, MacGibbon defeated Ketcho, but it wasn't without a fight from the Wildcat sophomore. After losing the first set to MacGibbon 6-2, Ketcho came back for a 7-6 win in the second with a 7-4 tie breaker. She then narrowly lost after a 12-10 decision in the final third-set tiebreaker. Koval was the final Wildcat to complete her match a No. 2 singles where she lost to Kristi Kroker in a third-set tie breaker.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 13-7 on the season and advance to the MIAC semifinals Thursday. The Wildcats' opponent and match location will be decided upon completion of the other MIAC quarterfinal matchup between the University of St. Thomas and the College of Saint Benedict. The Wildcats will face No. 1 Carleton College with a St. Thomas win Tuesday evening or No. 2 Gustavus Adolphus College with at Saint Benedict victory. MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs information can be found on the
playoffs site.
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