ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team knew exactly what they needed to do Saturday afternoon in their regular-season finale against Saint Benedict.
A win, and the Cardinals were headed to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoffs.
Mission accomplished—in convincing fashion.
The Cardinals raced out to a 3-0 lead after the doubles portion of their conference matchup against the Blazers, and never took their foot off the gas, winning all six singles matches—including a pair of three-set marathons—to earn the 9-0 victory.
And Saint Mary's first MIAC post-season berth since the 2010 season.
"The ladies were simply relentless today," said Saint Mary's coach
Jeff Halberg. "What an awesome performance from everyone."
Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) and
Megan Vandenberg (De Pere, Wis.) teamed for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, with
Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.)/
Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.) and
Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.)/
Marissa Kinzer (Aitkin, Minn.) adding 9-7 and 8-2 victories at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, to give Siant Mary's the 3-0 lead.
Sonday, Barr, Jorgensen, and Kinzer then followed with straight-set singles wins, while Vandenberg and Boeve both rallied from a set down to win 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 and 1-6, 6-3, 13-11 to complete the sweep.
The Cardinals, who closed out their regular-season schedule 5-5 in MIAC play and 12-6 overall, are now off until May 3 when they will kick off post-season play at the conference's No. 3 seed, which is yet to be determined.
