ST. PAUL, Minn. – In what has become an annual tradition, the St. Scholastica Saints and the Northwestern Eagles went to battle one final time in the UMAC tournament conference championship for women's tennis on Saturday. Next season, St. Scholastica will leave the UMAC and enter the MIAC, so not only was a NCAA automatic bid on the line today, but also bragging rights of being crowned the last UMAC Tournament Conference Champion in this storied rivalry. The Eagles were able to get the regular season victory 7-2 two weekends ago up in Duluth to clinch the UMAC regular season championship and the #1 seed in the conference tournament.
The Eagles hadn't won the conference tournament championship since 2016 but they looked to turn the tides on the four-year skid on an overcast Saturday afternoon. The Eagle's
Mafee Rinta (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) and
Belinda Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) were able to take a win from the Saints #1 duo two weeks ago but were unable to find their groove today, falling 1-8 in a well fought match. On the court across from Rinta and Weddle, the #2 duo of Tayar Smith and
Elli Dodge (Wahpeton, N.D./Wahpeton) were able to set the tone early and take a commanding 6-0 lead and close the match 8-2 to even up the team score at one-a-piece.
And in a marathon match, the #3 doubles team of
Sabrina Bush (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) and
Jessica Gross (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) were able to claw their way to a 7-6 lead after trading haymakers with the Saints. In a tense game at 7-6, Bush and Gross were able to prevail in a game that went to deuce and clinch the second point for the Eagles in doubles play before heading into singles play.
After a quick huddle for both teams going into singles, the Eagles and Saints took the court looking to split their singles matches to win the team match. Unlike previous games this year, singles play would be stopped on all courts as soon as one team reached five points.
Across the board, the Eagles took early leads in most matches. The most notable of these leads was #5 singles Dodge's and #6 singles Bush's 4-1 leads. Elli was able to close her first set at 6-2. Sabrina struggled halfway through the first set, watching her lead slowly dwindle to a 4-4 tie, but because of Bush's gutsy performance, she was able to nicely recover and close the next two games winning 6-4 in the first set.
#3 singles' Gross was tied-up in another close match after doubles with her opponent in which they traded blows but was able to separate late in the set and come through with a 6-4 first set win.
For #1, #2, and #4 singles Rinta, Weddle, and Smith battled and pushed their opponents to the max, but all fell in their first sets, 2-6, 4-6, and 5-7 respectively.
As play pushed into the second sets of matches, the Eagles had both won and dropped 3 of the first sets across the board. Dodge and Bush continued to keep things rolling and play solid tennis to win their second set 6-3 and 6-0. With a 4-1 lead, the Eagles were just one team point away from winning the championship. A few minutes after Bush's victory, the Saints were able to add their second point to the board in Smith's match at #4 singles, falling 5-7, 1-6.
Shortly after Smith's match, on the far end, south court at #3 singles, Jess Gross was able to obtain a 5-4 lead in the second set with the serve on the Saints' racquet. Gross was able to take a 0-30 lead in the game, but the Saints battled back to even it up at 30-30. Gross countered to win the next point to gain the 30-40 advantage and push the match to team championship point.
With all 75 fans eyes focused on court #3, waiting on baited breath, Gross battled in a long point and patiently waited for her opportunity to pounce on a short ball, which she placed deep in the Saint's court. Because of the well positioned ball, Gross's opponent ended up pushing the return deep, resulting in the Eagles players and fans erupting with thunderous cheers. As the other ongoing matches of Ritna and Weddle came to an automatic close, the Eagles women's team rushed the court to mob Gross and celebrate the tournament conference championship with a team victory of 5-2.
With that tournament conference win, the 2021 Eagles become the second team in tennis school history to win the regular season conference outright and win the tournament championship (other team was back in 2015). The Eagles also punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, where they will discover who they play on Monday.
