MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's tennis team won three consecutive tiebreaks to close its season with a 4-3 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory over Hamline University on Sunday at InnerCity Tennis.
St. Olaf (10-8, 3-7 MIAC) trailed Hamline (11-8, 4-6 MIAC) by a 3-1 margin before winning two super tiebreaks and one second-set tiebreak in the final three matches on court to grab the come-from-behind win. The win extended the Oles' winning streak against the Pipers to 24 matches since a 5-4 Hamline victory on April 16, 2002.
Hamline won a tiebreak, 7-5, at No. 1 doubles to claim the doubles point after the teams split the other two matches. Junior
Elliana Loesch and first year
Dana Keesler cruised to a 6-0 victory at No. 2 doubles before the Pipers claimed a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles and took the No. 1 doubles tiebreak.
After Hamline posted a straight-sets win at No. 5 singles, senior
Alexandra Berns logged a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 1 singles to put the Oles' first point on the board. A straight-sets victory at No. 2 singles brought the Pipers within a point of snapping their lengthy losing streak in the series, but St. Olaf won the remaining three matches to complete the comeback.
Junior
Charlotte Sloane completed a come-from-behind win at No. 4 singles in a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7) victory before Keesler took a second-set tiebreak to finish off a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) win at No. 3 singles and tie the match at 3-3. Sloane's win was her first super-tiebreak victory of the season.
First year
Norah Brusco put the finishing touches on the win by recovering from dropping the second set to claim a 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (12-10) victory at No. 6 singles to improve to 2-0 in super tiebreaks this season.
