Results
After an impressive start to the 2013 season, the St. Catherine University tennis team looked to remain undefeated against one of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)'s best teams, Gustavus Adolphus College.
The Wildcats proved that their winning ways are here to stay and that the Gusties were no match for the squad's dominant doubles play. With a 6-3 decision, the Wildcats defeated Gustavus for the fist time in program history to improve to 8-0 on the season Saturday night in St. Peter, Minn.
As they have done six other times this season, the Wildcats cruised to a 3-0 sweep of doubles against the Gusties. The No. 3 pair of
Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D.) and
Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn.) remained unbeated and pulled in the best score of the night with an 8-2 win over Gustavus' Maddie Lindstrom and Annie Mahoney.
The No. 2 duo of
Michaela Burroughs (Waterloo, Neb.) and
Maria Koval (Green Bay, Wis.) also kept their winning-streak alive with an 8-3 victory, while
Victoria Bravo (Tucson, Ariz.) and
Kylie Ketcho (Edina, Minn.) turned in that same score at No. 1 doubles.
Bravo also continued to prove that she is one of the best players in the MIAC as she used a 6-0, 6-4 win over Laurel Kresbach at the No. 1 singles position. In her first season as a Wildcat, Bravo is the only unbeaten Wildcat singles player and has taken down every one of her opponents in straight sets.
Koval – who has lost only one match at the No. 3 singles position all season – cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Gustavus' Heather Annis to help the Wildcats to victory.
The final singles victory of the evening for the Wildcats came in thrilling fashion as Salo took down Mahoney in a close third-set tie-breaker. After winning the first set 7-5, Mahoney rebounded with a 6-2 win in the second set to force the tie breaker. But Salo found a way to comeback as she finished off her opponent with a 13-11 win in the deciding tie-breaker.
With the win, the Wildcats retain the top spot in the MIAC standings with a perfect 5-0 conference record. The Wildcats will take a week off of competition before returning to action against Saint Mary's University on March 22 in Winona, Minn.
Wildcats on Twitter
Wildcats on Facebook
