St. Cloud State
Winona State University
Tennis suffers 5-2 setback to Winona State
4/11/2021 5:52:00 PM | Women's Tennis
SARTELL, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University tennis team was cruising entering its final home match of the 2021 season. The team earned a key victory over Upper Iowa University Friday evening, putting them in prime position for a run at the conference tournament. After earning a win over Upper Iowa on Friday, the Huskies suffered a setback in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play Sunday afternoon, as they fell to Winona State 5-2.
The final score is not fully indicative of the true battle that took place at the STA-Fit in Sartell, Minnesota. St. Cloud State fought valiantly in both doubles and singles play but was unable to come away with the team victory. In doubles play, the Huskies No. 1 team of Frances Hina Goldsmith (Honolulu, Hawaii / Dixie State) and Jill Kedrowski (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech) nearly came away with the biggest win of the night against the Warriors top team of Beth Murman and Audrey Delich. A late break resulted in a win for Winona State, as St. Cloud State fell by a final score of 7-5.
The Huskies No. 2 doubles team of Shanna Kinny (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) and Sam Fitzpatrick (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) and the No. 3 team of Emma Brunkow (Lake City, Minn. / Lake City) and Ellen Baranczyk (Rochester, Minn. / Mayo) fell by identical scores of 6-2 in their respective doubles matches.
Down 1-0 after doubles, St. Cloud State looked to rebound in singles play and took two of six matches from the Warriors. Kedrowski and Kinny earned key wins for the Huskies as the No. 3 and 4 singles players, battling through tough matches to earn two key points towards St. Cloud State's team score. After taking the opening set 6-1, Kedrowski dropped the second set of the match to Winona State's Rina Niehoff, meaning a superbreaker was needed to determine the victor. Kedrowski took the superbreaker 10-4 to win the match 6-1, 4-6, 10-4.
Kinny rallied from down a break against Audrey Delich to force a tiebreaker in the opening set. The sophomore then won the tiebreaker 7-5, taking the set 7-6 before winning the second 6-1 for a straight set victory for the Huskies.
Goldsmith nearly earned a third win for St. Cloud State as the team's No. 1 singles player, but she fell to Murman in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Fitzpatrick, Brunkow and Baranczyk also competed in singles play for the Huskies Sunday afternoon, falling in straight sets to their respective opponents as the team's No. 2, 5 and 6 singles players.
With the loss, St. Cloud State's overall record now stands at 5-8 and the team is 3-7 in NSIC play. The Huskies will face Minnesota-Duluth in the final match of the 2021 regular season at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 in Duluth, Minnesota.
Players Mentioned
