NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After pulling off a nail-biting win in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, the fourth-seeded St. Olaf College women's tennis team will challenge top-seeded and No. 21-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in the semifinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Tennis Playoffs on Friday.

St. Olaf (13-3) used three three-set victories in singles to claim a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over fifth-seeded St. Catherine University at home in the quarterfinals on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals. The Oles will meet nationally-ranked Gustavus (24-7) at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 2 at the Wilkinson Tennis Complex.

Per MIAC policy, no admission will be charged for postseason tennis matches. Gustavus will live stream the match on YouTube if it gets moved indoors due to weather.

Third-seeded Bethel University will take on second-seeded Carleton College in other semifinal on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The winners of the two semifinals will vie for the MIAC Playoff title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, May 3 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

In the quarterfinals, St. Olaf fell behind 1-0 after doubles and was down 3-1 with three singles matches on court before getting three-set wins from seniors Jane Spading, Fiona O'Flaherty, and Sarah Clark to storm back and top St. Kate's. After Spading and O'Flaherty tied the score at 3-3 with their victories, Clark won a third-set tiebreaker, 7-0, to send the Oles to the semifinals.

The win marked the third time that St. Olaf has won a match in its last four appearances in the MIAC Playoffs and improved the Oles' record to 12-14 all-time in the tournament. St. Olaf has only missed the MIAC Playoffs three times since the tournament began in 2007.

Gustavus won the MIAC regular-season title with an unblemished 10-0 record and has appeared in the MIAC Playoffs in each season since 2007. The Gusties have won a conference-high eight MIAC Playoff titles but have not taken home the title since 2018. Gustavus is 24-9 all-time in the tournament, including a 15-2 mark in the semifinals.

Friday's semifinal will be the sixth meeting between St. Olaf and Gustavus in the MIAC Playoffs, with the Gusties winning each of the previous five. The two programs have not met in the postseason since a 5-1 win by Gustavus in the semifinals in 2015. Three of the five meetings have come in the semifinals and two have been in the championship match. The Gusties have won each of the last 39 head-to-head meetings in the series, including a 9-0 win during the regular season on April 13.