BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's tennis team returned to the port city of Duluth Saturday night on the right side of a 5-4 battle with former Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) foe the Northwestern Eagles (UNW). CSS was able to come back from 1-2 down after the doubles portion, claiming 4 singles victories and the dual match victory over the Eagles. This result avenges the prior contest in 2021 where the Saints lost in the UMAC playoffs to Northwestern on their outdoor courts in St. Paul.
Doubles
The Eagles took the edge early in doubles when Anna Ritchie (Becker, Minn./Becker HS) and Taylor Vyskocil (Ashland, Wis.) were narrowly defeated via a 7-8 (6-8) deciding tiebreaker.
However, Scholastica did find a victory at the No. 1 court after Julia Maier (Hamburg, Germany/Heidberg Gymnasium) and Mishell Benitez (Ambato, Ecuador/Colegio Tecnico Particular a Distancia José Martí) claimed an 8-3 victory over their opponents, getting back a point for the Saints heading into singles play.
Singles
The Saints evened the match when Maier speeded to a straight set 6-1,6-2 victory.
On the adjacent court, Benitez would also get the job done in straight sets at the No. 2 spot, using two tiebreakers to do so, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6, (7-5).
At No. 3 singles Ritchie outlasted her opponent 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 to claim the superbreaker win and a 4th point for the Saints.
Wrapping things up at the No. 4 position was Katia Bartels (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View HS), who cruised to the 6-1, 6-0 triumph.
Up Next
The Saints will next clash with a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference conference foes starting with the Carleton College Knights on Saturday March 4th. CSS women will be competing independently this particular weekend as the men's squad played the Knight's this fall. The lady Saints will play this contest at Duluth Indoor Sports Center at a time to be determined later before rising up the next day to play the all-women's college of the St. Catherine Wildcats back on the road in the Bloomington bubble. Play on Sunday gets underway at 12:30 p.m.
