SEMIFINAL BOX        FINAL BOX

MINNETONKA, Minn. — Advancing to the Northern Sun Women's Tennis Tournament finals with a win over St. Cloud State University, the University of Mary fell Sunday afternoon to No. 30 Augustana College. U-Mary (14-4) defeated St. Cloud State (13-3) 5-3 in the semifinals to open the day, before eventually falling 5-0 to now four-time defending NSIC Champions, Augustana (24-1) in the finals.
 
The Marauders 14 wins overall is the most since the program transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2006. U-Mary's 10 conference wins (10-1) is the most NSIC wins in program history.
 
Ranked ninth in the past three NCAA Central Region Rankings, the Marauders still have a chance to advance with NCAA Central Region Tournament, with the top seven teams from the region being selected.
 
Semifinal vs. St. Cloud St.
 
Battling SCSU to 5-4 win earlier in the season at home, U-Mary was tested again, but again answered the call defeating the Huskies 5-3 to advance to the finals of the NSIC Tournament. The win was the Marauders ninth consecutive win and second NSIC Tournament victory in program history.
 
Needing a tiebreaker to win earlier in the season against the Huskies, Sarah Janes and Catherine Gibbens, were unable to match their success as U-Mary fell behind 1-0.
 
Hallie Welk and Kate O'Connell knotted the score at 1-1 with their fifth straight win at No. 2 doubles. The freshmen duo of Meredith Holt and Anastasia Bruss avenged their loss from earlier in the season to give the Marauders a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.
 

Doubles competition

1. Kotschevar, Katie/Siegfried, Maribelle (SCSU) def. Janes, Sarah/Gibbens, Catherine (MARY) 8-2

2. Welk, Hallie/O'Connell, Kate (MARY) def. Zwiener, Rachael/Pung, Gabbie (SCSU) 8-3

3. Holt, Meredith/Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) def. Marlton, Tori/Roque Diversi, M. (SCSU) 8-6   Holt extended U-Mary's lead with her fourth straight win at No. 4 singles, but O'Connell's lost at sixth singles kept SCSU within one. Not losing since March 8, Welk gave U-Mary a 4-2 lead with her ninth straight win. After Bruss' loss at fifth singles, Gibbens sealed the Marauders victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles.   Janes won her first set 7-6 at No. 2 singles.

Singles competition

1. Welk, Hallie (MARY) def. Kotschevar, Katie (SCSU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6

2. Janes, Sarah (MARY) vs. Siegfried, Maribelle (SCSU) 7-6, unfinished

3. Gibbens, Catherine (MARY) def. Roque Diversi, M. (SCSU) 6-3, 6-4

4. Holt, Meredith (MARY) def. Voelker, Jamie (SCSU) 6-1, 6-2

5. Zwiener, Rachael (SCSU) def. Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) 6-3, 6-1

6. O'Brien, El (SCSU) def. O'Connell, Kate (MARY) 6-3, 6-1

 
Final vs. Augustana
With its only conference loss of the season coming to Augustana, U-Mary hoped to revenge that loss in the conference final, but the now four-time defending NSIC Champion Vikings were too much to handle as the Marauders fell 5-0.
 
Janes and Gibbens had their hands full at No. 1 doubles losing to the Vikings regionally ranked duo of Katie Jesperson and Jessa Richards, who have won all 23 of their matches this season. Welk and O'Connell handed Christine Olivo and Heather Sullivan their only loss of conference play earlier in the season, but were unable to replicate their success. Bruss and Holt fell at No. 3 doubles and U-Mary fell behind 3-0.
 

Doubles competition

1. Jesperson, Katie/Richards, Jessa (AUGIE) def. Janes, Sarah/Gibbens, Catherine (MARY) 8-0

2. Olivo, Christine/Sullivan, Heather (AUGIE) def. Welk, Hallie/O'Connell, Kate (MARY) 8-4

3. Helleberg, Jenna/Lawrence, Meredith (AUGIE) def. Holt, Meredith/Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) 8-0

Trailing 0-3 heading into singles play, the Marauders faced a considerable deficit heading to singles play. Janes lost at No. 2 singles and O'Connell at No. 6 as U-Mary fell 5-0.   Holt was leading 5-4 in her first set at fourth singles.

Singles competition

1. Jesperson, Katie (AUGIE) vs. Welk, Hallie (MARY) 6-0, 5-0, unfinished

2. Richards, Jessa (AUGIE) def. Janes, Sarah (MARY) 6-0, 6-1

3. Beg, Francesca (AUGIE) vs. Gibbens, Catherine (MARY) 6-4, 1-1, unfinished

4. Olivo, Christine (AUGIE) vs. Holt, Meredith (MARY) 4-5, unfinished

5. Helleberg, Jenna (AUGIE) vs. Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) 6-2, 5-0, unfinished

6. Lawrence, Meredith (AUGIE) def. O'Connell, Kate (MARY) 6-1, 6-0

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