Top women's tennis contenders face off in first spring "Game of the Week"
*Photo credits: Northwestern Sports Information, St. Scholastica Athletics Communication
Saturday, March 25, 2017 - Women's Tennis: Northwestern at St. Scholastica
***UPDATE***
St. Scholastica wins 7-2
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Since its inception, Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s tennis has been dominated by the College of St. Scholastica as they were the lone team to ever win a conference title since 1997 with 17-straight. That was until the University of Northwestern emerged as a contender in 2014 earning a share of the regular season title that year.
Since then, Northwestern has claimed each postseason title winning three-straight – including last year with an upset of St. Scholastica – and claimed the 2015 regular season title. St. Scholastica finally re-emerged as the top dog during the regular season last season going 10-0 to take the conference crown back from the Eagles.
Heading into the thick of the conference season, both squads return a plethora of talent and have started with strong non-conference slates, making the matchup between the two UMAC powerhouse squads Saturday an easy choice for the first “UMAC Game of the Week” of the spring season.
St. Scholastica has had one of its strongest starts in program history winning eight of its first nine matches before moving to 9-3 overall, while Northwestern overcame a narrow 5-4 loss to neighboring Bethel University to jump out to an impressive 12-3 mark.
With that momentum and three competitive matchups last spring, Saturday’s game should be a thriller with major implications on the title race. In the two regular season matches last season, the Saints got the best of the Eagles winning the first in late February 7-2 in Duluth, Minnesota.
The two squads then met to close out the regular season at Northwestern with the Saints narrowly edging out its foe in a 6-3 decision that helped the Saints take back the regular season crown.
As in any sport, defeating the same team three times in a season is a tall order – one that was too tall for the Saints who let yet another postseason title slip away as the Eagles took the tournament championship 6-3 just one week following their previous meeting.
With impressive finishes to the 2016 season, both the Saints and Eagles reaped the rewards of their hard work earning Pool B berths to the NCAA tournament – a first for Northwestern. Both squads eventually saw their seasons end in the opening round against top-ranked regional teams.
In the final season before the UMAC earns an automatic qualifying berth to the national championships, both teams will look to get back to the tournament in Pool B – and both are set up for success as the two combine to return eight All-UMAC performers from a year ago. The Saints welcome back five led by the solid senior duo of
Jessica Solberg and
Madeleine Scanlan who combined for 19 wins at No. 1 doubles a season ago and anchored the No. 1 and 2 singles spots, respectively. Both have been off to terrific starts each earning Player of the Week honors once so far this season.
The Eagles – who went 8-2 in the UMAC last season – welcome back seniors
Karen Moe and
Tina Matetich who held down two of the top three singles spots last season. Moe reigns as the UMAC Player of the Year after going a remarkable 26-2 overall at No. 1 singles and has started off with an untainted 14-0 record so far this season. She also earned the first four UMAC Player of the Week honors to kick off 2017.
Heading into 2017, the Saints emerged atop the UMAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll just ahead of the Eagles tallying 24 points and four first place votes. Northwestern followed for a solid second with 18 points but just two points ahead of Martin Luther College with 16 points.
The Match Up
Though early in the season, Saturday’s match between St. Scholastica and Northwestern will give the upper hand to the victor heading into the thick of the UMAC season. Coming up with a win will be key to taking the top spot in the standings with what will most likely be just a one-game advantage when the two squads meet for a second time in late April.
St. Scholastica started off where it left off a year ago winning four-straight to open 2017 including a solid 5-4 win over St. Olaf College. Two of the Saints’ three losses came at the tail end of their spring break trip last week. The only other loss came in early February against the top Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) program in Gustavus Adolphus College. The Saints already have two conference wins to date taking down North Central University and the University of Minnesota Morris in shutout fashion.
Northwestern dropped a heartbreaker to Bethel to open 2017, but rebounded quickly winning over North Central and a solid St. Catheirne University squad from the MIAC. The Eagles hit a roadblock against Gustavus before winning nine of their next 10 matches. The Eagles only other loss this season came to Rhodes College 5-4 on their spring break trip. They have also won their last three matches 9-0.
Need to Know – St. Scholastica
- The Saints have made five NCAA tournament appearances since 2007.
- St. Scholastica has just two 9-0 wins this season – both came against UMAC opponents.
- The Saints have won 75 percent of their points available at No. 1 doubles this season.
Need to Know – Northwestern
- Northwestern made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 2016.
- The Eagles have won six matches this season with scores of 9-0.
- Northwestern has lost just eight matches in doubles this season for a 82.2 winning percentage.
Who to Watch – St. Scholastica
Solberg and
Scanlan – who appeared in the ITA Central Region doubles rankings last season – have continued their doubles dominance with a 7-2 mark as the No. 1 pair. Scanlan also became just the third player in Saints’ history to record 50 career singles and 50 career doubles wins.
Sarah Coryell owns an 8-2 record in singles to add to the Saints strong lineup.
Katelyn Rice also has six wins in both singles and doubles, while
Elizabeth Fink has seven doubles victories.
Elise Hauer has been playing well as of late taking the most reason Player of the Week honor.
Who to Watch – Northwestern
Moe has been a force to be reckoned with so far in 2017 with 14 singles wins and 12 doubles wins. She also ranked No. 14 in the ITA Central Region Preseason Poll in November and should remain among the top players in next week’s first spring release. With a short lineup, four other players have at least 10 singles wins including
Nikki Edin, Emily Knight, Brooke Lapinski and
Rachel Lukkarilla. At the No. 3 doubles spot, Lapinski and Lukkarilla are also a perfect 11-0 as a pair.
Matetich and Moe also boast a 10-2 record at No. 1 doubles.
The Basics
The conference matchup between St. Scholastica and Northwestern is set for this Saturday, March 25 at 12 p.m. The contest will take place at the Arrowhead Tennis Center in Duluth, Minnesota.
The “Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week” is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the “UMAC Game of the Week”.
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