WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team's season came to a close in heartbreaking fashion Saturday afternoon.
Clinging to hopes of a berth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs — and needing a win in their regular-season finale to keep those hopes alive — the Cardinals fell just short, dropping a 5-4 decision to St. Scholastica at the Winona Tennis Center.
"The ladies season ended with an incredibly close finale," said Saint Mary's coach
Jeff Halberg. "It was a great battle from start-to-finish and I am so proud of these ladies. They had an incredible season and I could not have asked any more of them this year."
The Saints grabbed a 2-1 lead after the three doubles matches, with
Maggie Frye (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and
Kennedy Morgan (Green Bay, Wis.) teaming for an 8-3 win at No. 2.
Natalie Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.)/
Emily Henderson (Jordan, Minn.) and
Kailee Johnson (Rochester, Minn.)/
Maddie Dosser (South St. Paul, Minn.) came up just short in their matches at No. 1 and No. 3, falling 8-7 (6) and 8-6, respectively.
And as close as things were in doubles, they were equally as close in singles, as Saint Mary's picked up wins by Frye (6-3, 6-3), Johnson (6-1, 6-3), and Henderson (6-2, 6-2) to pull even with the Saints 3-3 with one match left.
Unfortunately, that final match — between Morgan and CSS's Madilyn Jankila did not end in the Cardinals' favor, with Jankila pulling out a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
The Cardinals close out the season with a 4-6 conference mark, while finishing 11-8 overall.
