NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's tennis team wrapped up its third-straight berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs by blanking Macalester College, 9-0, in its first home match of the spring on Wednesday afternoon at Carlson Courts.
St. Olaf (8-4, 6-3 MIAC) entered the match needing one win from its final two regular-season matches to clinch a playoff berth and took care of business against Macalester (5-11, 2-7 MIAC) for its second-straight 9-0 conference victory. The Oles lost just three games in doubles and won super tiebreakers at the top-two spots as part of a singles sweep.
Head coach
Scott Nesbit's team will make its 13th appearance in the MIAC Playoffs next week after closing out the regular season at home against conference leader Gustavus on Friday, April 29 at 4:30 p.m.
First years
Sarah Clark and
Jane Spading cruised to an 8-0 victory at No. 3 doubles to put the first point on the board with their third-straight victory. The duo is a team-best 8-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play this season.
Seniors
Christiana Cholakis and
Teresa Fawcett picked up an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles before first year
Olha Zubarieva and sophomore
Anna Secor closed out the doubles sweep with an 8-2 victory atop the lineup.
In singles, the Oles claimed straight-set wins at No. 3 through No. 6 singles before finishing off the 9-0 win with super-tiebreaker victory at the top-two spots. Fawcett and Spading lost just one combined game in their matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, to get St. Olaf the five points needed to secure the team result.
First year
Fiona O'Flaherty improved to a team-best 8-3 overall and 6-3 in MIAC play with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles and Clark picked up her seventh win of the season with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles.
At No. 1 singles, Zubarieva outlasted Amanye Reynolds by a 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) margin to match O'Flaherty with eight victories this season. In the final match on court, Cholakis recovered from dropping a second-set tiebreaker to claim the super tiebreaker in a 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 1-0 (10-4) win over Meg Ulrich at No. 2 singles.
