Box ScoreThe St. Catherine University tennis team qualified for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs for the fifth-consecutive season after finishing fifth in the conference standings with a 6-4 conference record. However, the Wildcats knew they would have a tough time defeating No. 4-seeded St. Olaf College two years in a row in the postseason following a narrow 6-3 loss earlier in the season.
Despite closely contested doubles matchups, the Wildcats couldn't come up with enough power in singles to make up the deficit and ended their season with a tough 7-2 loss to the Oles in the MIAC quarterfinals Wednesday evening in Northfield, Minnesota.
After going undefeated in MIAC matches this season, the regionally-ranked doubles pair of
Kylie Ketcho (Eden Prairie, Minn./Academy of Holy Angels) and
Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd) scored the lone Wildcat doubles win at the No. 1 spot with a narrow 9-7 win against Alisa Hall and Maya MacGibbon.
At No. 2 doubles,
Maria Koval (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) and
Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D./Mitchell) narrowly lost after a hard fought 8-6 decision gave Kristi Kroker and Margaret Zimmerman a win for the Oles.
Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn./Waseca) and
Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) almost scored a victory at No. 3 doubles before falling 9-7 to Erin McDonald and Bailey Kent.
Ketcho scored the only Wildcat win at singles takings a 6-4, 6-4 decision over MacGibbon at the No. 3 singles spot. Ketcho tied for the team lead in singles wins this season with a 12-6 overall record to match that of Salo who put up a tough fight before suffering a three-set loss in a closely contested match with Kroker at the No. 2 spot. Salo won the first set 7-5, but Kroker stole the second 6-4. The tiebreaker continued until Kroker finally pulled away for a 14-12 decision and the match win.
Knoll fell 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 4 spot to Zimmerman to finish the season 11-7 overall, while Koval concluded her career with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to the No. 25-ranked player in the regional in Hall at No. 1 singles. Koval ends her senior season with a 10-8 record. She ranks No. 4 all-time at St. Kate's for career singles wins at 49-26 and No. 4 in career doubles matches with a 56-17 mark.
Lorenzen dropped her match at No. 5 singles Erin Hynes 6-0, 6-0 while Duda fell 6-1, 6-0 to Kent.
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