ST. PETER, Minn. – For the first time likely in at least a decade, the College of Saint Benedict tennis team has an athlete still competing in the championship bracket on Day 2 of the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
 
Sophomore Lily Fredericks went 2-0 in her first day of play in the top quarter singles bracket Friday, and moves on to play the top seed Saturday morning for the chance to go to the semifinals.
 
Teammate Kayla McIver is also still alive in the consolation brackets after finishing the day 1-1, and senior Tessa Rahrick went 0-2 in the first round.
 
"We had some really hard-fought matches (Friday)," head coach Michael Engdahl said. "Kayla, Tessa and Lily competed like crazy and left everything on the court on a very hot day. Any time you pick up wins at the ITAs it is a big deal, so it's nice to see the Bennies get some wins and continue play into (Saturday)."
 
Fredericks started her first-ever ITA tournament with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Cornell's Emmaline Fievet. She followed that up with a come-from-behind win against Bethel's Sydney Rott. After dropping her first set 6-4, Fredericks came back to win the match 6-2, 6-1. She moves on to face Gustavus' Ginger Valentine – the top seed in the tournament – Saturday morning.
 
After receiving a bye in the first round, McIver lost her first match of the day, but won a marathon second match to stay alive in the consolation bracket Saturday. McIver lost 7-5, 6-0 to UW-La Crosse's Kellie Hierl, then won a marathon match in the consolation bracket, including a 14-12 super breaker to seal the win and move on to play another day.
 
Rahrick dropped a pair of matches on day one of the tournament. She fell 7-6(3), 6-3 to Luther's Shelby Cook in her first match of the day, then lost 6-0, 6-1 to Grinnell's Ali Hickey in her consolation match.
 
This weekend's trip to St. Peter marks CSB's first appearance in the ITA Regional Tournament since 2017-18. McIver went 1-2 that year and Rahrick went 0-1. After wrapping up play this weekend, CSB finishes its fall season Saturday, Sept. 28, with nonconference matches against Stout and Bemidji State.