Carleton wins back-to-back MIAC Women's Tennis Playoff titles

http://miac-online.org/news/2013/5/4/WTEN_0504132110.aspx

 

ST. PETER, Minn. -- For the second-straight season, Carleton College claimed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) women's tennis postseason championship. The Knights pulled off the repeat as the tournament's No. 2 seed by taking down the Cinderella story of the 2013 MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs - fourth-seeded St. Thomas - 5-0 in the championship match Saturday night.

The title match began outdoors at 7 p.m. on the Brown Tennis Courts on the Gustavus campus in St. Peter, Minn., then moved indoors to the Swanson Tennis Center following the completion of the doubles matches. Regardless of the surroundings, Carleton completed an impressive run to a repeat title by winning all three doubles matches and two singles matches to seal the win.

The Knights' title-match repeat started with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles by the tandem of Katherine Greenberg and Molly Hemes. Bridget Doyle and Anne Lombardi made it 2-0 with an 8-1 victory in the top doubles spot. The best doubles match of the final was at No. 2, where St. Thomas' Bridget Noack and Kara Lefsrud put up a great effort, but came up just short in an 8-6 loss to the Knights' Mikaya Becich and Grace Davis.

Becich continued her stellar championship match with Carleton's first singles win, a 6-3, 6-0, victory at No. 3 singles. Lombardi wrapped up the title with a 6-0, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles as the Knights reached their decisive fifth point. Because of the move indoors, the match was played to decision rather than completion.

The win not only gave Carleton its second-straight Playoff title, but it improved its record to 15-7 overall in 2013. The Knights lost just once - to regular season champ St. Catherine - to MIAC opponents this season with an 11-1 record. St. Thomas wrapped up its season with a 2-1 record in the tourney - including a stellar upset of No. 1 St. Kate's - and finished with a 14-6 overall record. Both teams are regionally ranked, with the Knights ranked seventh and the Tommies at No. 19.

In addition to the MIAC's postseason championship plaque, Carleton received the MIAC's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Tournament. The NCAA will host a live selection show online to announce the tournament selections and brackets Monday at 6 p.m. central time. Individual selections will be announced online via a press release on NCAA.com Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Gustavus served as the host school for the 2013 MIAC Tennis Playoffs. Complete schedules, results, stats, recaps, photos, team information and more can be found on the 2013 MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs web site. Fans can also re-live and discuss the tournament on the MIAC's Facebook page, and on Twitter (@MIAConline) using the hashtags #MIACtennis and #MIACPlayoffs.



2013 MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs
Quarterfinals: Friday, May 3, 2013
No. 3 Gustavus 5, No. 6 Bethel 0 | Box Score | Photos: GAC - BU |
No. 4 St. Thomas 5, No. 5 St. Olaf 2 | Box Score | Photos: UST - STO |

Semifinals: Saturday, May 4, 2013
No. 1 St. Catherine vs. No. 4 St. Thomas | Box Score | Photos: MIAC - UST - SCU | Recap |
No. 2 Carleton 5, No. 3 Gustavus 1 | Box Score | Photos: MIAC - CAR - GAC | Recap |

Championship: Saturday, May 4, 2013
No. 2 Carleton 5, No. 4 St. Thomas 0 | Box Score | Photos: CAR - UST |

*Playoff Champion earns the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament



2013 MIAC Women's Tennis Playoffs Home Page