ST. PAUL, Minn. – The fifth-seeded St. Olaf College women's tennis team edged fourth-seeded Macalester College by a 5-3 margin in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Wednesday afternoon at Hayden Courts.
St. Olaf (9-7) avenged a 5-4 regular-season loss to regionally-ranked Macalester (11-7) eight days earlier by winning two of the three doubles matches and claiming three of the five singles matches that finished before the match was decided. The match was the second postseason meeting between the two programs after the sixth-seeded Oles upset the third-seeded Scots by the same 5-3 score in the quarterfinals two years ago.
With the win, St. Olaf advanced to the semifinals for the ninth time since the tournament began in 2007. The Oles' reward is a matchup with top-seeded and undefeated Carleton College in the semifinals on Friday, April 28 at 3:30 p.m. Third-seeded Bethel University squeaked past the sixth-seeded College of Saint Benedict in Wednesday's other quarterfinal to book a spot against second-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College in the semifinals.
Just like the regular-season meeting, St. Olaf got wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to carry a 2-1 lead into singles. After Macalester put the first point on the board with an 8-2 victory at No. 2 doubles, the tandems of sophomore
Olha Zubarieva and senior
Allie Prokosch and sophomores
Fiona O'Flaherty and
Sarah Clark logged wins to give the Oles the lead.
The regionally-ranked duo of Prokosch and Zubarieva improved to 14-2 in dual matches this season with an 8-3 victory atop the lineup, while O'Flaherty and Clark remained unbeaten at 4-0 as a pairing with an 8-6 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
In singles, the Scots grabbed a 3-2 lead after claiming straight-set victories at the No. 6 and No. 3 spots in the first two matches to conclude. Sophomore
Jane Spading reversed the outcome of her match at No. 4 singles from last week with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to even the score at 3-3.
Playing the same opponent she edged by an 11-9 score in a super tiebreaker after dropping the first set last week, O'Flaherty posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles to break the 3-3 tie and give the Oles a 4-3 advantage with two matches left on court. Zubarieva delivered the clinching point with a 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 win at No. 1 singles to avenge a super-tiebreaker defeat in the regular-season meeting and send St. Olaf into the semifinals. Prokosch trailed 1-0 in the third set at No. 2 singles when the match reached decision.
