BISMARCK, N.D. - A good crowd of students and community members alike lined the ring around the courts at the Capital Racquet and Fitness Center this afternoon as the University of Mary Women's Tennis team took on St. Cloud State University to wrap up the weekend tennis action.
 
The Marauders (1-2, 1-2 NSIC) had several back-and-forth points against their favor in the doubles matches against the Huskies (1-3, 1-1 NSIC) in a hard-fought 7-2 loss for the weekend split.
 
Sarah Janes and Meredith Holt were up first as the number one doubles team as the duo took on Abigail Kantor and Fernanda Quintino dos Santos in a match that featured several long rallies that went in favor of the Huskies. The luck ran out on the Marauder pair as Kantor and dos Santos came away with the 8-4 win.
 
Catherine Gibbens and Eileen Leong were up at the number two doubles spot and held the early lead over Jill Kedrowiski and Alexie Portz, but the Husky duo provided an exciting match for the Marauders in a match that could've gone to either team. Gibbens and Leong fought back to force the tiebreaker at 8-8 but ran out of gas in the extra set as Kedrowiski and Portz took the 9-8 win on a 7-1 tiebreaker score.
 
Anastasia Bruss and Monica Benda got the bill at the number three doubles spot against Marilia Diversi and Miranda Wynkoop with Benda providing the spark in the match that needed another tiebreaker to decide the victor. The Marauder pair couldn't secure a handful of decisive points in the match as the Husky duo took the tiebreaker set at 7-4 for the doubles sweep over U-Mary.
 
Janes and Gibbens returned to form in the number one and two singles spots, respectively, as Janes made short work of Kantor in the first spot and took home the 6-0, 6-1 win; while Gibbens had a strong out in the second spot against El O'Brien for a 6-1, 6-1 win to get U-Mary on the board.
 
Holt faced a tough opponent in Diversi at the number three singles spot as the Marauder turned what originally looked like an easy win for Diversi into a battle in the second set. Holt couldn't maintain the momentum, unfortunately, as Diversi took the match at 6-0, 6-3.
 
Bruss took on Jamie Voelker at the number four spot and had another tough contest as the Husky took the first set at 6-3, but the gas ran out for the Marauder in the second set as Voelker secured the team win for St. Cloud State at 6-0.
 
The number five singles matchup between Leong and Portz turned into another back-and-forth affair as Leong left every last bit of hustle on the court against an experienced opponent. Portz held on through several extended rallies, though, as the Husky took the match as 6-4, 6-4.
 
Benda was the last Marauder on the court in the singles matches as she took on Kedrowiski in the number six spot and Kedrowiski eventually outlasted Benda in the final matchup of the day at 6-3, 6-2 and put the team score at 7-2 in favor of the visitors.
 
The Marauders will head south next week as they take on the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday, February 20, starting at 6 PM.

Final results can be seen here.
 
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