DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The College of St. Scholastica and the University of Northwestern (Minn.) will again compete for both the men's tennis and women's tennis Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Championships
Where:
Longview Tennis Club – Duluth, Minn.
When:
Saturday
Men at Noon
Women at 4 p.m.
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CSSsaintstennis
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaintstennis
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/csssaints
MEN
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 13-7, 7-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints captured their 23
rd consecutive UMAC regular season title last Saturday after a victory over the Eagles at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center.
-The Saints defeated Martin Luther College 9-0 in the UMAC semifinals on Monday.
-CSS has lost just one dual match of any kind against a conference opponent since 1997 and that was last year's tournament championship against Northwestern.
-The Saints will be in search of their first NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.
-CSS went a combined 60-3 between doubles and singles against UMAC competition during the regular season.
-Sophomore
Elliot Schneider (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) has won 13 straight singles matches.
-Freshman
Rafa Gonzalez (La Libertad, El Salvador/FESA) has won seven straight singles matches.
-Gonzalez and
Serhii Tykhonenko (Kiev, Ukraine/Lyceum #100 "Podil") have won eight straight doubles matches.
-Tykhonenko has won at least 10 singles matches at the No. 1 spot in each of his first three seasons.
-Head Coach
Wells Patten is one away from his 300
th coaching the men at CSS.
What You Need to Know about Northwestern:
Record: 15-8, 6-1 UMAC
-The Eagles are the reigning UMAC Tournament champions.
-Northwestern defeated the University of Wisconsin-Superior 7-2 in the tournament semifinals on Wednesday.
-The Eagles were 36-6 in singles action in conference play with five of those losses coming against the Saints.
-Landon Ridpath has 15 wins at the No. 1 singles spot.
-Matthew Wedin has won seven straight singles matches.
-UNW was 17-4 in conference doubles action with three of those losses coming against the Saints.
-The No. 1 doubles team of Austin Bricker and Davis Pfaff have 13 wins this season.
Series Record: CSS leads 56-2
(Last Meeting: 8-1 CSS – 4/27/2019)
Series History: This is the eighth straight year the teams are meeting in the UMAC Tournament championship … The Saints swept the Eagles 9-0 in four of the previous seven meetings … The Eagles defeated the Saints 5-4 in last year's championship at Longview.
WOMEN
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 16-6, 7-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need to Know about the Saints:
-The Saints captured their fourth consecutive UMAC regular season championship after defeating the Eagles last Saturday.
-CSS has won the last two UMAC Tournament titles after the Eagles won the previous three.
-The Saints have made the NCAA Division III Tournament each of the last four seasons.
-Senior
Katelyn Rice (Eveleth, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) enters Saturday on an eight-match singles winning streak.
-Rice became the 10
th player in program history to record 50 singles wins in a career after her semifinal win over the University of Minnesota Morris on Wednesday.
-Rice leads the team with 17 singles wins and 15 doubles victories.
-
Sara Wennerstrand (Baxter, Minn. /Brainerd HS (Saint Benedict)) has won 10 matches at the No. 1 singles spot this season after spending the last four years playing softball at The College of Saint Benedict.
-The 10 wins at the No. 1 spot are the most by a Saint since Jessica Solberg in 2016.
-Freshman
Brynne Hauer (Duluth, Minn. /Duluth East HS) is tied with Wennerstrand for the second-most singles wins on the team at 14. (Nine have come at the No. 5 spot)
-The Saints did not lose a doubles match against UMAC competition during the regular season, but dropped one Wednesday night against Minnesota Morris.
-The team of Rice and Wennerstrand lead the way 12 victories.
What You Need to Know about Northwestern:
Record: 14-10, 6-1 UMAC
-The Eagles defeated the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Wednesday 7-2 in the UMAC Tournament semifinals.
-Northwestern won three straight UMAC Tournament titles from 2014-16.
-Northwestern went 40-8 in conference singles action during the regular season with five losses coming against the Saints.
-Nikki Paskewitz leads the team with 14 singles wins, all at the No. 1 spot.
-Rachel Lukarilla enters on a five-match win streak.
-The Eagles were 21-3 in doubles action during the regular season with all three losses coming against the Saints.
-The No. 1 team of Emily Knight and Paskewitz has 14 wins on the year.
Series Record: CSS leads 42-7
(Last Meeting: 8-1 CSS – 4/27/2019)
Series History: Like the men, this is the eighth straight year the Saints and Eagles are meeting for the UMAC Tournament championship … CSS won the first and UNW then won the next three … However, the Saints have won the last two, including a thrilling come-from-behind 5-4 victory in last year's championship.
Looking Ahead: The winner of both tournaments will receive the automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament fields will be posted on NCAA.com Monday morning.
