ST. PETER, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team was making its first-ever appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Friday afternoon, and coach
Jeff Halberg knew the secret to his team's success would be getting off to a quick start.
Unfortunately for SMU, the tournament jitters showed early on — keeping the Cardinals from that quick start — as SMU fell behind in all three of its doubles matches against St. Olaf and never recovered in dropping a 5-0 decision to the third-ranked Oles in a match that was ended as soon as the Oles reached five match wins.
Abby Cooper (La Crosse, Wis.) and
Abby Voigt (Burnsville, Minn.) dropped a heartbreaker at No. 2 doubles, falling to St. Olaf's Caitlin Harper and Aimee Ny 9-8 (7-4).
Bailey Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and
Rebecca Snyder (Eden Prairie, Minn.) — who were both named to the All-MIAC singles and doubles teams earlier in the day — suffered an 8-4 decision at No. 1 doubles, while
Andrea Allis (Wells, Minn.) and
Killian Edwards (Fond du Lac, Wis.) came out on the short end of an 8-1 decision at No. 3 doubles.
The Oles then completed the win with straight-set wins over Voigt at No. 4 singles (6-1,6-1) and
Emily DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn.) at No. 6 singles (6-1, 6-0).
