Results

WHITE BEAR LAKE, MINN. – The St. Catherine University tennis team is off to a rip-roaring start to the 2018 season. After beating Martin Luther in their season opener on February 3, the Wildcats earned another nonconference win, as they won a hard fought battle with the University of Northwestern-St. Paul Friday even by a score of 8-1.

St. Kate's won all three of its doubles matches Friday evening. At the No. 1 spot, the team of Bri Dorr (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) and Aubrey Eckstrom (St. James, Minn. / St. James) cruised to an 8-3 victory, while Ella Graham (Madison, S.D. / Madison) and Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) dominated in their 8-1 victory at the No. 3 spot.

The No. 2 doubles match proved to be the most exciting, as Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) and Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) were even with their Eagles opponents 6-6. However, the two All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) honorees broke their opponents in the seventh game, taking a 7-6 advantage before winning outright 8-6.

Three Wildcats won in straight sets in singles play. As the team's No. 3 singles player, Graham earned one of those two victories, beating her opponent 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), while Obert won at the No. 4 spot 6-0, 6-3. Ruth Rike (Pine City, Minn. / Pine City) was the other member of St. Kate's team to do so, winning at the No. 5 singles spot by a score of 6-0, 6-2.

Dorr and sophomore Maddy Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) both earned come-from-behind wins to earn two points for the team Friday evening. After dropping the first set 6-2, Dorr came roaring back at the No. 1 singles position to take the second set 6-4 and force the third set. After a long, hard fought dual, the sophomore earned her second individual win of the season, beating Northwestern's top player 10-8 in the third and final set, winning the match 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.

Knoll also earned a dramatic comeback win at the No. 5 singles position. Knoll lost the first set 6-1, then battled back for a 7-5 victory in set two. Like Dorr, Knoll also won 10-8 in the final set, taking the match 1-6, 7-5, 10-8.

Wiedmeier suffered St. Kate's lone loss Friday evening. The sophomore dropped the first set 6-1 and tried to mount a comeback in the second. After she and her opponent were deadlocked 6-6, the two played in a thrilling tiebreaker, which Wiedmeier ultimately lost 7-5, resulting in a 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) individual loss.

Thanks to these outstanding performances, the Wildcats open the season with an unblemished 2-0 record for the second straight season. St. Kate's will return to the courts on Sunday when it takes on the University of St. Thomas in its MIAC opener. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Baseline Tennis Center.