St. Cloud State Tennis Travels to Duluth to Take on the Bulldogs in a Battle of the Dogs

Saturday, April 6

Duluth, MN

10:30 A.M.

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

Photo by: Isaac Bentrott

St. Cloud State Tennis Travels to Duluth to Take on the Bulldogs in a Battle of the Dogs

4/4/2024 12:48:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Huskies look to snap four match losing streak

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Tennis (3-6, 1-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) will travel to Duluth, Minn. for a match against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (1-7, 1-5 NSIC) on Saturday, April 6. The match is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and will take place at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center.

LAST TIME OUT
Two weeks ago, St. Cloud State traveled to Winona, Minn. to take on Winona State and Minnesota State Mankato. The Huskies started off slow against Winona State where they would be defeated in all three doubles matches as the Warriors would take a 1-0 lead. WSU continued that momentum into singles play by winning the first three matches in straight sets as they clinched the victory over St. Cloud State. Junior Maria Paz Aoki (Marcos Paz, Argentina) picked up her second win of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the No. 2 spot. Junior Claudia Muñoz Perez (Tarragona, Spain) won her eighth singles match the season with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Sara Anderson in the No. 1 spot. Winona State would go on to win the match 5-2 after junior Johana Brower (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was defeated by injury default.

Results- Winona State 5, St. Cloud State 2
Doubles

Sara Anderson & Skylar Gary (WSU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez & Lara-Maria Schaefer (SCSU): 6-3
Lainy Ristau & Halle Rosentreter (WSU) def. Johana Brower & Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-3
Clara Thoemke & Elysia Beynon (WSU) def. Oriana Grott & Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU): 7(7)-6(5)

Singles

Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU) def. Sara Anderson (WSU): 6-3, 7-5
Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU) def. Halle Rosentreter (WSU): 6-4, 6-2
Skylar Gary (WSU) def. Johana Brower (SCSU): 7(7)-6(5), 2-3 R
Lainy Ristau (WSU) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-2, 6-2
Clara Thoemke (WSU) def. Lara-Maria Schaefer (SCSU): 6-3, 6-1
Elysia Beynon (WSU) def. Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU): 6-3, 6-0

Sunday's match against the Mavericks saw the Huskies fall into a 0-1 deficit after winning just one of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Oriana Grott (Warsaw, Poland) and freshman Brooklyn Broadwell (Thief River Falls, Minn.) won the lone doubles match for SCSU with a 6-2 victory. Freshman Lara-Maria Schaefer (Nuremberg, Germany) put the Huskies on the board in singles play with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the No. 4 spot. The win was Schaefer's sixth of the season. Broadwell gave SCSU a 2-1 advantage with a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the No. 5 spot. The Mavericks would win the next two matches to take a 3-2 lead, but senior Maria Molitor (Delano, Minn.) tied the match at 3-3 with a 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 win in the No. 6 spot. The match would be decided in the No. 3 spot between Grott and McKenna DeMarce. Demarce won the first set 6-2, but Grott flipped the script with a 6-2 win in the second set. DeMarce bounced back in the third set with a 6-3 victory to secure the match for the Mavericks. St. Cloud State has now lost four consecutive matches and are placed 8th in the NSIC standings.

Results- Minnesota State Mankato 4, St. Cloud State 3
Doubles

Freia Lawrence & Avery Stilwell (MSU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez & Lara-Maria Schaefer (SCSU): 6-2
Elizabeth Felderman & McKenna DeMarce (MSU) def. Johana Brower & Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-2
Oriana Grott & Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU) def. Taylor Julsrud & Sutton Julsrud (MSU): 6-2

Singles

Freia Lawrence (MSU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-2, 6-3
Avery Stilwell (MSU) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-0, 6-1
McKenna DeMarce (MSU) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Lara-Maria Schaefer (SCSU) def. Taylor Julsrud (MSU): 7-5, 6-3
Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU) def. Sutton Julsrud (MSU): 6-3, 6-1
Maria Molitor (SCSU) def. Georgia Deml (MSU): 6-4, 0-6, 7-5

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's match against Minnesota Duluth will be the 75^th meeting between the programs with the Huskies holding a 56-18 advantage in the series. Despite the advantage, St. Cloud State has lost four of the past five matches to the Bulldogs including their matchup last season.

The Huskies would jump out to an early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point. The pairing of Paz Aoki and Muñoz Perez took the first match with a 6-3 victory in the No. 1 spot. Molitor and then-senior Olivia Fredrickson would clinch the point for the Huskies with a 6-2 win in the No. 3 spot. Despite the lead, St. Cloud State was defeated in five of the six singles matches, with four of them coming in straight sets, as the Bulldogs completed the comeback with a 5-2 victory.

Results – Minnesota Duluth 5, St. Cloud State 2
Doubles

Maria Paz Aoki & Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU) def. Shay Callaway & Megan Muller (UMD): 6-3
Abby Johnson & Mallory Lithun (UMD) def. Arisa Kashima & Johana Brower (SCSU):7-5
Olivia Fredrickson & Maria Molitor (SCSU) def. Olivia Honsey & Amanda Hanowski (UMD) 6-2

Singles

Shay Callaway (UMD) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-4, 6-0
Megan Muller (UMD) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-1, 7-5
Arisa Kashima (SCSU) def. Abby Johnson (UMD): 6-3, 6-1
Mallory Lithun (UMD) def. Johana Brower (SCSU): 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
Carly Chaney (UMD) def. Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-2, 6-3
Olivia Honsey (UMD) def. Olivia Fredrickson (SCSU): 7-5, 6-4

SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH
Minnesota Duluth comes into this match in a slump similar to the Huskies as they have lost five consecutive matches. During their losing streak, the Bulldogs have lost all five matches by three or more points with those losses coming against St. Olaf, Sioux Falls, Minnesota State Mankato, UMary, and MSU Moorhead. UMD has a record of 1-7 this year and are currently seeded 9th in the conference.

Senior Shay Callaway leads the top of the singles lineup for the Bulldogs with a 3-4 record at the No. 1 position. Senior Abby Johnson is the only other Bulldog with multiple singles victories on the year as she holds a 2-5 record in the No. 2 spot.

Doubles has been a struggle for the Bulldogs this season as they have only won one of their 21 matches. Callaway and Johnson possess the only win for UMD where they defeated Kate Taylor and Valesca Rodriguez of Bemidji State 6-2.

Head coach Jessica Worden enters her ninth season with Minnesota Duluth, holding a record of 56-74. During her tenure, UMD has qualified for the NSIC Tournament five times. During the 2017 season, Duluth qualified for the first time in Worden's tenure and for the first time in seven seasons. Prior to being hired in 2015, Worden had served as a high school coach across multiple Minnesota schools including Hermantown, Minneapolis South, and Benilde-St. Margaret.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Tennis, stay tuned to the SCSU Athletics website and follow the Huskies on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.