Results
FARGO, N.D. – The St. Catherine University tennis team certainly isn't letting the end of season pressure get to it. With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Wildcats have five Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) matches remaining on the schedule hopefully before another trip to the conference tournament. St. Kate's kept its playoff hopes alive on Friday, as it dispatched Concordia College 8-1.
The Wildcats overcame a long bus ride en route to the 8-1 victory and took an early 3-0 lead after a clean sweep in doubles play. St. Kate's No. 1 team of
Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) and
Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) set the tone with an 8-4 win over Concordia's Jenna Forknell and Kendra Stoick, the closest doubles match of the afternoon. No. 2 team of
Bri Dorr (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) and
Ella Graham (Madison, S.D. / Madison) defeated their opponents 8-1, while
Aubrey Eckstrom (St. James, Minn. / St. James) and
Maddy Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) beat Josie Beachy and Irini Lagoggiani by the exact same score at the No. 3 spot.
The Wildcats good fortune continued in singles play, as five of six individuals won their respective singles match. Knoll was the lone student-athlete from St. Kate's to record a clean "sweep", so to speak, as she defeated Lagoggiani at the No. 6 spot without dropping a set. The sophomore's 6-0, 6-0 win wasn't the only impressive victory on site, as junior
Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) won at the No. 4 spot by a score of 6-0, 6-1.
Dorr, Sporer and Graham also carded wins in singles play, all in impressive or dominating fashion. As the team's No. 2 singles player, Dorr scored a 6-1, 6-2 win over Stoick, while Sporer defeated Lisa Neumann 6-0, 6-4 as the Wildcats No. 3 singles player.
Graham opened her individual match with a tight 7-5 win over Beachy thanks to a late break and took an early 3-0 lead in the second set. The first year won the match outright, as Beachy defaulted due to injury.
Wiedmeier battled in her match as St. Kate's No. 1 singles player, falling to Forknell 6-3, 6-4.
With the 8-1 win, the Wildcats win their fifth consecutive match and improve their overall record to 10-3. St. Kate's, now 3-3 in MIAC play, will return to the courts on Saturday when it takes on Bethel University at 2 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minnesota.
