Results

ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University tennis team seemed to have hit its stride in early and mid-April. The Wildcats went on a five-match win streak only to see it snapped last week in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play by Bethel University. Hoping to get back on the winning track, St. Kate's headed down to Macalester College for a big match with playoff implications. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Wildcats were unable to come away with a victory, falling to the Scots by a final score of 7-2.
 
St. Kate's got off to a rocky start in doubles play, as the team fell behind 3-0 after the opening three matches. No. 1 doubles team of Alisha Wiedmeier (Rapid City, S.D. / Stevens) and Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) put up a fight against Macalester's Della Brown and Laurel Hickey but ultimately fell 8-3, while Maddy Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and Aubrey Eckstrom (St. James, Minn. / St. James) fell 8-4 at the no. 3 spot.
 
The Wildcats no. 2 team of Bri Dorr (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) and Ella Graham (Madison, S.D. / Madison) nearly completed a big comeback for the team, but unfortunately fell to Lily Stein and Natali Sorajja 8-4. After falling behind 7-2 early, St. Kate's no. 2 doubles team broke their Macalester counter parts to cut the deficit to 7-3. They then won their service game to cut the lead to 7-4. Sadly, Dorr and Graham were unable to break a second time and ultimately fell 8-4.
 
The Wildcats hoped to turn their fortunes around in singles play, and, at the very least, even the score at 3-3. St. Kate's got an early win from its No. 4 singles player Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) who defeated Brown in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Sporer also was victorious as the team's No. 3 tennis player. After dropping the first set 6-3, Sporer roared back with a 6-0 win in the second set to force the tiebreaker. The senior was once again victorious, winning the point for the Wildcats with a 3-6, 6-0, 10-4 win.
 
Several other student-athletes from St. Kate's battled in their respective singles matches but were unfortunately unable to come out on top. An early break from Hickey doomed no. 1 singles player Wiedmeier, who lost both sets by a single break in her 6-3, 6-4 loss. Dorr also competed in her match as the team's no. 2 singles player, dropping the first set 7-5 before falling in set two 6-3.
 
Both Graham and Knoll competed as the Wildcats No. 5 and 6 singles players. Graham fell to Sorajja 6-3, 6-2, while Knoll lost a three-set heartbreaker to end the evening. After losing the first set 7-5, Knoll used a late break in the second set to win 6-4 and force the tiebreaker. Sadly, Knoll ran out of gas in the latter stages of the match, falling by a final score of 7-5, 4-6, 10-7.
 
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 10-5 and the team is now 3-5 in MIAC play. The Wildcats look to get one step closer to .500 on Friday when they take on the College of Saint Benedict at 4:30 p.m. in St. Joseph, Minnesota.