OWATONNA, Minn. — It was a match that could not have ended any closer.
Unfortunately for the Saint Mary's University women's tennis team, close wasn't good enough.
The Cardinals rallied from three games down, only to fall to St. Olaf 5-4 in the team's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match Friday evening.
"I can't be prouder of this team," said Saint Mary's women's tennis coach
Jeff Halberg. "They gave it everything they had tonight."
The Cardinals fell behind 2-1 after the three doubles matches, with
Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.) and
Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.) picking up an 8-4 win at No. 1 to account for Saint Mary's win.
Saint Mary's rallied to tie the match with singles wins by
Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.),
Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.), and Peterson at Nos. 1, 3 and 5, respectively, only to have the Oles record a three-set, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 10-8 win at No. 2 singles to ice the win.
The Cardinals return to action next Sunday, heading to Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D., for a conference matchup against Concordia.
