Northwestern, St. Scholastica headline UMAC Women's Tennis Awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women's tennis season saw great success for both the College of St. Scholastica and University of Northwestern-St. Paul programs with both earning bids to the NCAA tournament. Now, they're receiving postseason recognition as St. Scholastica's Wells Patten was named UMAC Coach of the Year and Northwestern's Karen Moe was honored with the UMAC Player of the Year award announced Tuesday.
Under the direction of Patten, the Saints reclaimed the UMAC regular season title – for the 19th time in program history – after losing out to Northwestern in 2015. The Saints finished 2016 with a flawless 10-0 conference mark and 19-6 overall record. With their impressive resume, the Saints earned their second-consecutive 'Pool B' bid to the NCAA regional set for Thursday in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
Northwestern also had a successful year thanks to the solid play of junior Moe at the No. 1 singles and doubles positions. Moe helped lead the Eagles to their first ever 'Pool B' selection to the NCAA regional – the Eagles will also compete at Whitewater Thursday. The news came Monday following the Eagles winning their third-consecutive UMAC postseason title.
Moe was at the top of her game during her junior campaign going 10-0 at UMAC No. 1 singles and 26-2 overall. She also finished with an 8-2 UMAC doubles mark and was 21-7 overall. Moe even found herself ranked No. 22 individually in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region rankings during the year.
This is the third-straight All-UMAC honor for Moe who ended the year on an eight-match singles winning streak and winning nine of her last 10. The junior star has also compiled 141 career wins between singles and doubles over her three-year stint with the Eagles. This season she collected four UMAC Player of the Week honors.
Moe's teammate Tina Matetich and St. Scholastica's Madeleine Scanlan were also honored by the coaches with their third-straight all-conference honors. Matetich finished her junior campaign winning 15 UMAC matches between singles and doubles, while Scanlan was 16-0 in UMAC play between the two.
The Saints' Jessica Solberg and Daniela Rojas were honored with their second career All-UMAC honor, as was Brooke Lapinski of Northwestern. Solberg and Scanlan were the top UMAC doubles pair in 2016 and were even ranked No. 15 in the Central Region during the year. Rojas won 13 UMAC matches between doubles and singles while Lapinski had 14 victories.
The Saints finished with the most honorees with five as Sarah Coryell and Elise Hauer were also selected All-UMAC. Northwestern had four players recognized with Jessica Henke also stamping her name on the list. Third-place finisher Martin Luther College saw Elizabeth Broring make the list, while playoff qualifier Bethany Luther College had Taylor Nordhausen earn recognition. Kayla Kraemer of the University of Minnesota Morris rounded out the All-UMAC list.
Each year the UMAC recognizes the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represented sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Northwestern earned the honor for the third-consecutive season. Each team also had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Karen Moe, Jr., Northwestern
Coach of the Year Award – Wells Patten, St. Scholastica
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown/High School |
| Elizabeth Broring |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Rochester, Minn./Luther Prep |
| Sarah Coryell |
So. |
St. Scholastica |
Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong |
| Elise Hauer |
Fy. |
St. Scholastica |
Duluth, Minn./Duluth East |
| Jessica Henke |
So. |
Northwestern |
Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North |
| Kayla Kraemer |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd |
| Brooke Lapinski |
So. |
Northwestern |
Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen |
| Tina Matetich |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing |
| Karen Moe* |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Fargo, N.D./Fargo South |
| Taylor Nordhausen |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Saint James, Minn./Saint James |
| Daniela Rojas |
So. |
St. Scholastica |
Monterrey, Mexico/Universidad Tecmilenio |
| Madeleine Scanlan |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
St. Albans, England/Loreto College |
| Jessica Solberg |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Northwestern
Bethany Lutheran – Madalyn Elmquist, Fy., South St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul
Martin Luther – Acacia Foss, So., Saint James, Minn./Saint James
Minnesota Morris – Arlene Egge, Fy., Lakefield, Minn./Southwest Star Concept
North Central – Brianna Griffin, Fy., Reedsburg, Wis./Reedsburg
Northwestern – Rachel Bostrom, Sr., Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake
St. Scholastica – Sarah Coryell, So., Golden Valley, Minn./Armstrong