ResultsST. PAUL, MINN. – With only three matches remaining in the 2015-16 regular season, the St. Catherine University tennis team needed a win in order to keep their conference playoff hopes alive. The Wildcats got that big win on Tuesday night, as they defeated Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Macalester College 8-1 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Led by the strong play of their top two teams, St. Kate's held a 2-1 lead after the opening round of doubles. The Wildcats No. 1 team of
Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn. / Brainerd) and
Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D. / Mitchell) won their third straight doubles match in dominant fashion, beating Macalester's Della Brown and Saniya Rana 8-0. Their teammates
Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and
Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) had similar success at the No. 2 spot, defeating Jessica Ilc and Maegan O'Herin 8-3 in their doubles match.
First years
Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and
Ruth Rike (Pine City, Minn. / Pine City) played together at the No. 3 doubles spot for the first time in the very first match of the 2016 spring season. They fought with the Scots Lily Stein and Nina Brim, but lost by a score of 8-5.
With a 2-1 lead after doubles play, St. Kate's was looking to extend its lead in singles. Salo and Knoll won handily at the No. 1 and 2 singles spots in straight sets. Salo took down Brown 6-1, 6-0 while Knoll defeated Rana 6-1, 6-3. Obert also had success at the No. 6 spot, beating O'Herin in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.
Lorenzen's hot streak continued against the Scots, as she conjured her second straight come-from-behind singles victory. The senior lost the opening set of her singles match 6-3 to Stein before roaring back to with the second set 7-6 to force the deciding tiebreaker. Lorenzen dominated in the third and final set, beating Stein 10-1 in the third set tiebreaker to take the match by a score of 3-6, 7-6, 10-1.
Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn. / St. Micahel-Albertville) and Sporer both won in straight sets at the No. 4 and No.5 singles spots respectively. At the No. 4 spot, Duda took the first set against Ilc 6-1 but was unable to break her opponent in the second set, ultimately needing the seven point tiebreaker to win the match all together. Duda played 19 total points before winning the second set 7-6 behind an 11-9 tiebreaker score.
Sporer beat Brim in a similar fashion at the No. 5 spot, only her first set needed to be determined by the seven point tiebreaker. She took the first set 7-6 (5), then won the second set 6-2 to sweep Brim and bring the Wildcats total to eight points.
With the 8-1 victory, St. Kate's improves to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in MIAC play. They have two matches on the schedule before the end of the regular season. The Wildcats final home match of 2016 will take place this Saturday at 1 p.m. against Southwestern Minnesota State University at the St. Kate's tennis courts. Then, their final match of the 2016 season will be on the road against their MIAC foe the College of Saint Benedict on Friday, April 29.
