ST. PAUL, Minn. - On day two of a six-match week, the University of Northwestern Women's Tennis team faced a tough, non-conference test in St. Catherine University. The Wildcats came in with a 13-5 record on the season and a top-four spot in the MIAC standings. The visitors proved worthy of the hype, winning all nine matches and taking down Northwestern, 7-0, at Johnson Tennis Complex.
St. Kate's set the tone early, defeating UNW's No. 1 (
Rein Hayashi (Kyoto, Japan/Kansai Christian School) and
Sarah Langridge (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake)) and No. 2 (
Aby Ross (Chico, Calif./Central) and
Anne Clarke (Granite Falls, Minn./Yellow Medicine East)) doubles teams by matching 6-1 scores.
Hannah Hyttsten (Becker, Minn./Becker) and
Abby Cimenski (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) were able to hang around for a bit longer before ultimately falling by a 3-6 margin in the No. 3 match.
Singles play saw much of the same effectiveness from the Wildcats, as all but one match ended in two sets. Clarke was first to bow out with a 1-6, 0-6 loss at No. 5, while Hayashi took a 3-6, 0-6 defeat in the No. 1 match. At No. 3 singles, Ross went down 4-6, 1-6, and Cimenski suffered a 3-6, 2-6 loss in the No. 6 spot. After Hyttsten's 5-7, 3-6 loss in the No. 4 match, Langridge was able to show some fight at No. 2. The freshman, who leads the Eagles with a 14-8 singles record this season, was in control early, winning the first set, 6-3. After a 1-6 loss in set two, she battled back-and-forth with her opponent in a 10-point tiebreaker, but ultimately came up just short, 8-10.
Northwestern will have Wednesday off before hosting Concordia-Moorhead on Thursday, April 23rd at 1:00 PM.
