EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The College of Saint Benedict tennis team split a pair of matches Saturday on a road trip to Eau Claire, Wis. CSB started the day with a 9-0 sweep of UW-River Falls, and wrapped up its day with a 7-2 loss to a traditionally strong UW-Eau Claire team.
"Our goal this fall season is to really set the identity of the team we want to be this spring," head coach
Michael Engdahl said. "(Saturday), we did just that. We competed with one of the top teams in the region and played the type of tennis we want to play all year. We have played a ton of tennis over the last few weeks, and everyone's hard work is paying off."
In the first set against the Falcons,
Kayla McIver and
Lily Fredericks won a tight match 8-6 at No. 1 doubles.
Tessa Rahrick and
Maria Bedford won an equally close match 8-7 at No. 2 doubles, and
Karsen Aune and
Anne Bowe picked up an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
In singles play, Rahrick started the team with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles. Fredericks won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles, and McIver picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles. Bowe won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, sophomore
Grace Lee won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles and Bedford won a close match 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 at No. 6 singles.
In the second match of the day, UWEC came out on top in a match that was closer than the score indicated. Fredericks and Rahrick fell 8-5 at No. 1 doubles, and McIver and Aune fought but lost by the same score at No. 2 doubles. Bowe and Beford fell 8-1 at No. 3 doubles.
Bowe stayed undefeated in her first season with CSB tennis with a three-set victory at No. 5 singles. She won 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Fredericks picked up CSB's other win, coming away victorious 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Lee kept her match close, but fell 6-4, 5-7, 5-10 at No. 4 singles.
Rahrick lost 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles; McIver fell 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 and Aune lost 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.
CSB heads to St. Peter, Minn., for the ITA Regional Tournament Sept. 20-23, and wraps up the fall season Saturday, Sept. 28, with a pair of nonconference matches at home.