St. Cloud State
St. Catherine University
Tennis comes up short in 5-4 loss to St. Kate's
3/6/2021 11:39:00 AM | Women's Tennis
| Results |
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University tennis team could have enjoyed a week of rest after an intense start to the 2020-21 season. However, the Huskies were back to the grind Friday evening, as they faced St. Catherine University in a nonconference duel at Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though St. Cloud State played some of its best tennis of the spring season, the Huskies fell to the Wildcats 5-4 Friday evening.
With St. Kate's playing host, the match looked a little different Friday evening, especially in doubles. According to Division III rules, rather than award a team a single point for winning the majority of the doubles matches, each individual match counts as one point towards the overall team score. St. Cloud State earned a coveted point in doubles play, as Shanna Kinny (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) and Olivia Fredrickson (Fridley, Minn. / Fridley) pulled out a thrilling 8-6 win as the Huskies No. 2 doubles win, using a late break to defeat Ella Graham and Reilee Schepper.
The other St. Cloud State doubles teams battled at their respective slots but ultimately came up short against the Wildcats. No. 1 team of Francis Hina Goldsmith (Honolulu, Hawaii / Dixie State) and Jill Kedrowski (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech) hung with St. Kate's top doubles team of Kelsey and Bri Dorr game for game until a late break by the Wildcats results in an 8-6 loss. No. 3 team of Sam Fitzpatrick (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) and Kylee Frisbie (Foley, Minn. / Foley) hung with Noelle Slezack and Erica Wing but ultimately fell 8-4.
The Huskies looked to make up the points in singles play, winning three of the six matches played Friday night. Kinny, Kedrowksi and Fredrickson all scored big wins for St. Cloud State as the No. 3, 4 and 5 singles players, with two of the three wins coming in straight sets. As the No. 3 singles player, Kinny defeated Graham 6-4, 6-3, while Kedrowksi earned a big 7-5, 6-0 win over Schepper at the No. 4 singles slot.
Fredrickson played in, perhaps, the most intense match of the evening, as she earned a clutch 2-6, 7-6, 10-6 win over Elsa Joy. After dropping the first set 6-2, Fredrickson rallied for a tiebreaker 7-6 win in the second, forcing the decisive third set. The junior used her seniority to her advantage, taking the third set 10-6 to win the match 2-6, 7-6, 10-6.
The other three Huskies battled in their respective singles matches, but sadly game up short. An early break in the opening set cost Frisbie, as she fell as the No. 6 singles player 6-3, 6-2, while Fitzpatrick fell at the No. 2 slot 6-4, 6-1. Goldsmith withdrew as the team's No. 1 singles player after dropping the first set 6-1 to Kelsey Door.
With the loss, St. Cloud State's overall record now stands at 1-6, and the team is 1-5 in NSIC play. The Huskies will play in another nonconference match on Saturday, March 13 when they host Minnesota State-Mankato at 1:30 p.m. in Sartell, Minnesota.
Players Mentioned
