SARTELL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern lost a close match against the College of Saint Benedict on Saturday afternoon, falling to the host-Blazers 5-4. Four of the nine points needed extra time to determine match winners. Saturday was the first time in eight days that the Eagles played a match, with Northwestern coming off its annual spring break trip to Florida last week.
Match ResultsOne of those longer matches came in doubles play, as
Birdie Bardwell (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) and
Tina Matetich (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) were unable to hold off Saint Benedict's Victoria Beach and Taylor Kraemer in a 9-7 final at No. 3. UNW's No. 1 doubles pair of
Megan Johnson (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and
Karen Moe (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South ) won their match 8-4, but the Eagles'
Rachel Bostrom (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) and
Brooke Lapinski (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) were 8-2 losers at No. 2, meaning Northwestern trailed 2-1 heading into singles play.
Both Johnson and Moe won their Nos. 1 and 2 singles bouts, with Moe's first set win of 7-6 requiring a 7-2 tiebreaker. Bardwell and Bostrom also played in tiebreakers, but both lost. Bardwell suffered a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 defeat to Beach, while Kramer handed Bostrom a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) loss. Those wins, paired with Cassy Finn's 6-3, 6-4 win over Lapinski, sealed the deal for the Blazers in the race to five points.
UNW's Matetich won her No. 6 singles match over Rachel Raden, 6-2 and 6-1, but the damage had already been done.
The loss drops Northwestern to 6-6 on the year. The Eagles' next match on March 27 will be a big one for multiple reasons, starting with the fact that it will be UNW's first true on-campus home match since 2008 when the old courts were demolished to make room for campus expansion. Northwestern will host Bethel University on the brand new Johnson Courts, with starting lineups scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
