Results
OWATONNA, MINN. – For the past two weeks, the St. Catherine University tennis team battled against the top teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) but was unable to come away with a victory. Friday evening, the Wildcats found their way back to the winning side of the track, as they came up with a huge 6-3 dual match win over conference foe St. Olaf College in Owatonna, Minnesota.
Coming into Friday night's match, St. Kate's was 1-2 in MIAC play and needed a big win over St. Olaf to get back to .500. Thanks to three impressive matches in doubles play, the Wildcats were two points closer to victory, as they earned two points with two big wins to open the dual. St. Kate's No. 2 doubles team of
Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) and
Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) opened the night with an 8-3 victory over Kellis Brandt and Ellie Bergstrand to give the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage. Then,
Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and
Aubrey Eckstrom (St. James, Minn. / St. James) scored an 8-2 victory at the No. 3 spot to extend St. Kate's lead to 2-0.
Despite
Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and
Bri Dorr's (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) loss in doubles, the Wildcats still entered singles play with a 2-1 advantage over the Oles. However, St. Olaf was quick to even the score and then eventually take a 3-2 lead with wins at the No. 1 and 2 singles spot. However, those were the last two matches the Oles would win, as the Wildcats won four matches to win the dual 6-3.
After a tough loss in doubles, Dorr rebounded with a 7-5, 6-4 win in singles to earn a huge point for St. Kate's, while Sporer cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the No. 4 spot.
Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn. / St/ Michael-Albertville) tallied a point for the Wildcats with a 6-2, 6-3 victory, and Obert rounded out the night with a quick 6-0, 6-1 straight set victory.
With the win, St. Kate's overall record improved to 3-4 and the team now holds a 2-2 record in MIAC play. The Wildcats look to break .500 in MIAC play tomorrow when they take on Hamline University at 12:15 p.m. at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus.
