ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Anne Bowe has been a steady presence in the College of Saint Benedict tennis team’s lineup as a first year so far this season, and she made a big impact in a pair of MIAC matches last weekend.
Bowe fought through a three-set thriller to pull out a big singles win to help CSB beat St. Thomas, and followed that up with another solid win against Concordia Saturday. For her big weekend, Bowe is both the MIAC Athlete of the Week and the CSB Athlete of the Week.
Bowe already had several big singles wins under belt in her first season with CSB tennis after picking up wins against UW-Eau Claire and Bemidji State opponents this fall. Her singles win Friday against the Tommies, however, helped the Bennies beat UST for the first time since March 2012. Five of the six singles matches went to extra sets, and CSB won four of those, including Bowe at No. 5 singles.
After winning a tight first set 7-6, Bowe fell 6-2 in the second set. In the third and final set, she kept pushing and eventually came away with a 14-12 win to help CSB win 6-3.
There was no letdown Saturday against Concordia for Bowe. She picked up another win – her eighth straight singles win this season – 6-4, 6-0, as CSB beat the Cobbers 8-1. Bowe also went undefeated in singles play this weekend, teaming up with Kayla McIver to win 8-0 at No. 2 doubles against the Tommies and 8-1 against the Cobbers.
Bowe is now 8-0 in singles play and 7-1 in doubles play. Her MIAC weekly honor marks the fourth straight season that a Saint Benedict first year has won MIAC Athlete of the Week honors. Tessa Rahrick earned the honor in 2017, Mackenzie Schurhamer twice in 2018 and Karsen Aune won the award last season.
Bowe and her teammates head to San Diego, Calif., to train and relax over spring break, and return to action Saturday, March 14, against both Luther College and UW-River Falls at Sta-Fit in Sartell.