Saints defeat Eagles for first UMAC women's tennis tournament title since 2013
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.---Though the College of St. Scholastica women's tennis team has seemed to have no problem dominating the regular season over the last few seasons in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), the postseason has proved a bit more challenging as the University of Northwestern has taken the last three playoff championships.
However, after sharing the regular season title, the No. 1-seeded Saints finally ended the No. 2-seeded Eagles' reign atop the tournament throne with a hard-fought 6-3 victory Saturday evening at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center.
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As always, the match between the saints and Eagles was competitive from the very start in doubles play. The Saints prevailed at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles spots with scores of 8-6 and 8-2, respectively, while the No. 2 doubles went to Brooke Lapinski and Rachel Lukkarilla of Northwestern 8-5.
Senior star Madeleine Scanlan shined in her final career UMAC match defeating Lapinski 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles following a solid win at No. 1 doubles with long-time doubles partner Jessica Solberg. At the No. 1 singles spot, Solberg eventually ended with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Northwestern's Karen Moe who ends her remarkable career in undefeated fashion in 2017.
Elizabeth Fink held off Gracie Lebrun at No. 6 singles in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, while Elise Hauer and Sarah Coryell also scored narrow staright-set wins for the Saints. At No. 3 singles, Hauer defeated Nikki Edin 7-5 in the opening set before needing a tiebreaker for the 7-6 decision in the second set. Coryell won 7-5, 6-3 at No. 4 singles against Lukkarilla.
The last matchup of the day came down to the No. 5 singles spot where a marathon ensued between Katelyn Rice of St. Scholastica and Emily Knight of Northwestern. Knight battled for the first set 7-6 after a tiebreaker before Rice took the second set by the same score and another tiebreaker. Finally, Knight eventually prevailed in the third-set super tiebreaker 12-10.
With the win, the Saints improve 18-5 overall and the Eagles moved to 24-6. Both teams will wait to see if they will receive a Pool B berth to the NCAA Championships announced Monday on ncaa.com.
Playoff Schedule
Semifinal Matches – Friday, May 5; Baseline Tennis Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 4 Bethany Lutheran, 9-0 |
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CSS Recap |
BLC Recap |
No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 3 Martin Luther, 9-0 |
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UNW Recap |
MLC Recap |
Championship – Saturday, May 6; Baseline Tennis Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
No. 1 St. Scholastica def. No. 2 Northwestern, 6-3 |
Box Score |
CSS Recap |
UNW Recap |
2017 Tournament Page