Box Score

The St. Catherine University tennis team had been off to a solid start to the 2015 season winning its first ofur matches including two in a row against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) competition. However, the Wildcats had nearly two weeks off before heading into their toughest part of the early season schedule and knew it would have its work cut out against a St. Olaf College squad that returned a large portion of its talented roster from a year ago. 

Despite taking a 2-1 advantage over the Oles after doubles, the Wildcats couldn't keep the momentum going against a strong singles lineup for the Oles before eventually falling 6-3 for their first loss of the season Saturday afternoon in Owatonna, Minnesota. 

The Wildcats opened up with a big 8-1 win for Maria Koval (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) and Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D./Mitchell) at No. 2 doubles over Maya MacGibbon and Kristi Kroker. Then, Kylie Ketcho (Eden Prairie, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) and Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) downed Alisa Hall and Margaret Zimmerman 8-3 at the No. 1 position. Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn./Waseca) and Julia Sporer (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) nearly completed a clean sweep of doubles, but were edged out 9-8 (4) by Bailey Kent and Erin Harper at the No. 3 position. 

The lone Wildcat win in singles came from Knoll who defeated MacGibbon 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. Knoll is only member of the Wildcat squad with a flawless 5-0 singles record so far this season. 

Koval lost at No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-0 to Hall who entered the season ranked No. 22 individually in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Poll, while Salo fell to Kroker by the same score at the No. 2 spot for her first singles loss of the year. Ketcho was defeated by Zimmerman 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. At No. 5 and No. 6 singles, Lorenzen and Sporer both fell 6-2, 6-2 to Erin Hynes and Kent, respectively. 

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the MIAC. The Wildcats return to action next Saturday as they face defending MIAC Champion Carleton College at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center. 

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