ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After a cool, rainy fall, the College of Saint Benedict tennis team finally gets to play at home this weekend.
The Blazers are scheduled to play their first home match of the year against UW-Eau Claire at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at Fitness Evolution in Sartell, Minn. Sunday, CSB plans on taking advantage of the unseasonably warm – and dry – weather when it hosts St. Thomas at noon on the CSB tennis courts in St. Joseph.
Saint Benedict, which is 2-6 overall and 0-1 in the MIAC heading into the weekend's matches. The Blazers are coming off their spring training trip in Orlando, Fla., where they finished 2-3 and played several matches against NCAA Division I and II competition. CSB picked up its first win of the year Monday, March 2, when it defeated Otterbein 5-4, and later in the week the Blazers beat Cedarville 7-2.
Junior
Daley Rupar finished the trip 3-1 in singles matches to lead the Blazers. She also picked up CSB's lone win against Division I Mount St. Mary's, defeating her opponent 6-2, 7-6, 7-2 at No. 1 singles.
Victoria Beach and
Laura Finn teamed up to go 3-2 at No. 1 doubles, and
Rachel Raden picked up two doubles wins, teaming with
Taylor Kraemer at No. 3 doubles against Otterbein and Rupar at No. 2 doubles against Cedarville.
The Blazers started their MIAC season Feb. 21 against Carleton – which is ranked No. 26 in Division III. The Knights beat CSB 9-0.
Saturday's match marks the first of the spring season for the Blugolds, but Eau Claire comes into the 2015 portion of its schedule with a 7-2 overall record. UW-Eau Claire finished third out of seven teams at the WIAC Championships in October. Sarah Henderson is 11-0 in singles play for UWEC and Colleen McCullough leads the team with 13 singles wins.
The Tommies are a perfect 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC heading into Sunday's match. St. Thomas started the spring season with a 9-0 sweep of Hamline, and also defeated Concordia 9-0 this fall. The Tommies have swept all but Northwestern (Minn.) so far this season, and they beat the Eagles 8-1.
After Sunday's match, CSB hosts Northwestern (Minn.) Saturday, March 21, at 10 a.m. at Fitness Evolution in Sartell.
