DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's tennis team matched-up with St. Scholastica on Saturday for the 2019 UMAC Championship. With an NCAA bid on the line, the Eagles fell to the UMAC's regular season champion Saints, 8-1.
 
The Saints' win marked their third straight postseason title. They will represent the UMAC at the NCAA regional next week.
 
The Eagles dropped all three doubles matches to begin Saturday play. The no. 2 duo of Shawna Spears (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln) and Mafee Rinta (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) took the most games from their opponent out of the three – falling in an 8-5 final.
 
Mafee Rinta (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) kept it rolling in singles play – battling to a third set win at the no. 6 spot. Rinta defeated her opponent (7-5, 4-6, 10-3) to record the Eagles lone win.
 
Two additional matches were stretched to third set battles including Northwestern's no. 1 singles player, Nikki Paskewitz (Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley). The senior took the first set in quick 6-2 fashion before falling 6-2 in set two and 10-2 in the tiebreak.
 
Rachel Lukkarila (Becker, Minn./Homeschool) was almost able to put together a brilliant comeback. After dropping set one (6-3), Lukkarila battled to a 7-5 set two win, but fell in the third set tiebreaker (10-5).
 
Nikki Paskewitz (Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley) and Emily Knight (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) wrap up standout careers for the Eagles. Paskewtiz has recorded 141 combined wins – the second most in Northwestern history. Knight has accumulated 120 combined wins, resting in fourth on the all-time list at UNW.
 
Keep up with Northwestern women's tennis online at www.unweagles.com