MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team entered its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Macalester on a roll, having won two of its last three matches — including an impressive 6-3 win over Concordia in the Cardinals' last action last Sunday.
And the Cardinals kept things rolling, exiting the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis courts with their third win in their last four matches.
But it wasn't easy — not by a long shot.
The Cardinals overcame a 2-1 deficit after the doubles play — and needed singles wins by
Zoie Becker (St. James, Minn.),
Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.), and
Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.) in the final three matches of the afternoon to rally for a 5-4 conference win over the Scots Saturday afternoon.
"What a win," understated Saint Mary's women's tennis coach
Jeff Halberg. "The ladies would not quit — down 2-1 after doubles, and trailing 4-2 with three matches remaining — they just kept battling from start-to-finish.
"It was a huge performance, top-to-bottom."
Henderson and
Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.) picked up SMU's lone doubles victory, teaming for an 8-4 at No. 3. SMU easily could have ended the doubles portion up 3-0, but
Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.)/
Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.) lost a heartbreaker, 8-7 (5) at No. 1 and
Maggie Frye (Colorado Springs, Colo.)/Johnson came up just short at No. 2, falling 8-6.
Peterson collected a 6-0, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles, but Macalester grabbed wins at No. 2 and No. 4 to take a 4-2 lead.
Unfazed, Henderson delivered a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles, while Johnson rallied form 4-0 down in the first set to win 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5, and Becker posted a marathon, 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 victory at No. 3 to complete the come-from-behind win.
The Cardinals (2-3 MIAC, 9-5 overall) are right back in action on Sunday, as they welcome Bethel to the Winona Tennis Center for a 1 p.m. conference match.
