Results
CHICAGO, ILL. – The St. Catherine University tennis team could not have asked for a better start, middle and ending to its trip to Chicago, Illinois. After earning two nonconference wins over Aurora University and Elmhurst College earlier in the week, St. Kate's ended its trip with another nonconference victory, this time in 8-1 fashion over North Central College Wednesday afternoon.
The Wildcats played one of their best matches of the season against a tough Cardinal team, taking all three matches in doubles play for an early 3-0 lead. St. Kate's No. 2 doubles team of
Bri Dorr (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) and
Ella Graham (Madison, S.D. / Madison) set the tone early with a quick 8-1 win over Morgan House and Reagan Scherpe. No. 3 team of
Maddy Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and
Ruth Rike (Pine City, Minn. / Pine City) quickly followed suit with an 8-2 win, while
Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) and
Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) rounded out the afternoon with a 8-3 win as the No. 1 doubles team.
The Wildcats strong play continued in their individual singles matches, as five of St. Kate's six student-athletes won in straight sets. Wiedmeier played in the most intense match of the afternoon at the No. 2 singles spot, defeating House in the opening set 6-3 before using a late break to win set two 7-5.
Graham and junior
Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) won their respective singles matches without dropping a game or set. Graham defeated Scherpe 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 4 singles spot, while Obert also cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory as the Wildcats No. 5 singles player.
Sporer and Knoll were the final two student-athletes from St. Kate's two win their respective singles matches Wednesday afternoon. As the team's No. 3 singles player, Sporer beat Emily Adams 6-0, 6-1, while Knoll defeated her opponent at the No. 6 spot by the same exact score.
Dorr competed in her match against the top singles player for North Central. However, the sophomore was unable to come out on top, falling in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.
With the victory, the Wildcats overall record improves to 8-3 and they have a 1-3 mark in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. St. Kate's will enjoy a week off before taking on the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota on Friday, April 6.
