ST. PAUL, Minn. - Sitting with an even 1-1 conference record after one week of UMAC play, the University of Northwestern Women's Tennis team looked to inch its way back above .500 in Monday's home match against Bethany Lutheran College. Thanks in part to a short-handed Bethany squad, the Eagles were able to cruise to a 6-1 win under the Johnson Tennis Complex lights.
Doubles matches didn't take much time to wrap up, especially since UNW was guaranteed a win at No. 3 due to the Vikings only having four available players. The No. 2 team of
Aby Ross (Chico, Calif./Central) and
Anne Clarke (Granite Falls, Minn./Yellow Medicine East) were first to finish with a 6-1 win, and were soon followed by
Rein Hayashi (Kyoto, Japan/Kansai Christian School) and
Sarah Langridge (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake), who prevailed by a 6-2 score in the No. 1 match.
With the doubles point in-hand and guaranteed points at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, Northwestern needed just one true singles win in order to clinch the team match. That came quickly from Ross--the team captain--who took care of business in the No. 3 match by a 6-1, 6-0 margin. Langridge was next to wrap up with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2, but Hayashi suffered the lone loss of the night for the Eagles--3-6, 4-6 in the No. 1 spot. Hyttsten made it a 6-1 final score with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.
The Eagles will have a quick turnaround before hosting St. Catherine at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, the second of six matches scheduled for this week.
