VIRGINIA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's tennis team continued its unbeaten start with victories over the University of Minnesota Duluth and the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday at Virginia Indoor Tennis and Pickleball Club.
St. Olaf (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) started the day with a 5-2 victory over NCAA Division II Minnesota Duluth (1-3) in a morning match played under the Division II scoring format. Later in the day, the Oles used their second doubles sweep of the day to claim a 5-4 win against St. Scholastica (3-2, 2-2 MIAC) for their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory of the season.
St. Olaf is back in action on Saturday, March 2 with a 6:30 p.m. match against Hamline University at InnerCity Tennis in Minneapolis.
St. Olaf 5, Minnesota Duluth 2 | Box Score
To start the day, the Oles dropped just eight games over the three doubles matches with three first-time pairings to sweep the Bulldogs and claim the doubles point. Juniors
Olha Zubarieva and
Sarah Clark claimed an 8-6 victory atop the lineup, while sophomore
Alexandra Berns and junior
Fiona O'Flaherty secured an 8-2 win at the No. 2 spot. Senior
Anna Secor and junior
Jane Spading added an 8-0 triumph at third doubles.
St. Olaf proceeded to pick up four straight-set singles victories, with wins coming from Zubarieva, Spading, O'Flaherty, and first year
Mads Hockmuth. Zubarieva won a pair of close sets at No. 1 singles in a 6-4, 7-5 victory, while Hockmuth secured her first collegiate singles win by a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 score line at No. 6 singles.
Spading logged a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles, while O'Flaherty dropped just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles.
St. Olaf 5, St. Scholastica 4 | Box Score
St. Olaf again got out to a strong start with a doubles sweep to carry a 3-0 lead into singles. The Oles won two of the first three singles matches to finish to secure the team result at 5-1 before the Saints won the final three matches on court.
The pairings of Zubarieva/Clark, Berns/O'Flaherty, and Spading/Secor all won their second matches in a row on the day as the Oles improved to 9-3 in doubles in dual matches this season. Zubarieva and Clark claimed their second 8-6 victory of the day, Berns and O'Flaherty recorded an 8-4 win, and Spading and Secor completed a day where they won 16-of-18 games with an 8-2 triumph.
Spading put the first point on the board in singles and improved to 4-0 this season with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles. After the Saints won at No. 2 singles, O'Flaherty provided the clinching point via a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles to remain unbeaten at 3-0.
