Results
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Entering Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) dual match against Bethel University, the Wildcats already knew they held a spot in the conference tournament. It was simply a matter of seeding. If it won, St. Kate's had a chance to be one of the top four seed in the MIAC Women's tennis postseason tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats came up short 5-4 in Saturday's match, meaning they will hold either the No. 5 or 6 seed in the MIAC tournament next week.
St. Kate's was down 1-2 after doubles play, despite its outstanding play.
Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) and
Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) won the Wildcats lone point of doubles play with a convincing 8-3 win over Anna Browning and Mattie Kidder at the No. 2 spot. At the No. 3 spot,
Aubrey Eckstrom (St. James, Minn. / St. James) and
Kailey Maroney (Montevideo, Minn. / Montevideo) battled but fell 8-3.
St. Kate's No. 1 team of
Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and
Bri Dorr (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) battled the Royals top team of Sydney Parkinson and Jill Weinzettel and nearly came away with a victory for the Wildcats. Unfortunately, Bethel's top doubles team broke in the final sets, taking the match 8-5.
St. Kate's tried to make up the deficit in singles play, as
Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville),
Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) and Knoll all their respective matches to give the Wildcats a 4-2 advantage. Duda won at the No. 5 singles spot 6-3, 6-3, while Obert defeated her opponent at the No. 6 spot 6-3, 6-2.
Knoll was impressive in her singles match as well. The No. 1 singles player for St. Kate's defeated Kidder 6-3, 6-4 to put her team ahead for the first time all afternoon. Unfortunately, losses by Wiedmeier and Sporer allowed the Royals to tie the match at 4-4, leaving the match in the hands of Dorr. After dropping the opening set 6-2, Dorr came roaring back to take the second 7-5 and force the third-set tiebreaker. Sadly, Dorr was unable to walk awake victories, falling 10-5 in the third set and 6-2, 5-7, 10-5 overall.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 11-6 and the team holds a 6-4 record in MIAC play. The Wildcats will compete in the MIAC playoffs next week against a yet to be determined opponent. More information will be available online in the upcoming days.
