FARGO, ND – In the final match of the year and facing an opponent battling for playoff positioning, University of Mary suffered a 9-0 loss to Winona State University.
 
UMary finished tenth overall in the Northern Sun and saw its string of four straight conference tournament appearances snapped. The Warriors claimed third overall in the conference and are seeded third in the NSIC tournament.
 
The Marauders #3 doubles team of Shanna Stevenson and Lisa Anderson started strong and jumped out to a 5 -2 lead but the Winona State duo of Tayla Card and Katie Scruggs rallied to win six straight games and claim an 8-5 victory.
 
Meredith Holt and Lucia Bolibruch played an exciting seesaw match against the Warriors #1 duo of Justine Daane and Kaisey Skibba. With Marauders serving late in the match, a ball off a Warrior racquet danced on net for seemingly eternity before falling the Warriors way. That point led to a crucial service break which turned out to be the difference as the Warriors then held serve to close out the match for an 8-5 win.
 
Winona State rolled to an 8-2 win at #3 doubles.
 
In addition to winning all three doubles matches, the Warriors also claimed all six of the singles matchups.
 
In the closest singles contest, Holt once again took her match to a tiebreaker. In her last collegiate match, the senior co-captain dropped the opening set 6-3 to Skibba in #1 singles. Holt dominated the second set for a 6-1 win to force her seventh tiebreaker of the season. Though she pushed Skibba to overtime, Holt couldn't finish the comeback and lost the tiebreaker 10-8.
 
In addition to Holt, fellow senior Anastasia Bruss also closed out her career, dropping a straight set decision at #3 singles.
 
Three seniors saw their career end on Sunday. In addition to Holt and Bruss, co-captain Catherine Gibbens will also graduate. Gibbens, the Marauders top player, was unable to compete due to injury.
 
Bruss, Gibbens and Holt were four-year contributors for the Marauders and head coach Vida Saliendr. All three played roles in the Marauders school-best Northern Sun second place squad in 2014. Bruss, a nursing major, Gibbens, an education major, and Holt, an accounting and finance double major, have earned NSIC All-Academic Team honors multiple years.
 
Winona State 9, University of Mary 0
Apr 09, 2017 at Fargo, N.D.
 
Singles competition
1. Kaisey Skibba (WSU) def. Holt, Meredith (MARY) 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Justine Daane (WSU) def. Bolibruch, Lucia (MARY) 6-2, 6-2
3. Rachel Gantz (WSU) def. Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) 6-1, 6-1
4. Kendra Kappes (WSU) def. Leong, Eileen (MARY) 6-0, 6-2
5. Tayla Card (WSU) def. Wolf, Danielle (MARY) 6-0, 6-0
6. Katie Scruggs (WSU) def. Bremar, Cristina (MARY) 6-1, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Justine Daane/Kaisey Skibba (WSU) def. Holt, Meredith/Bolibruch, Lucia (MARY) 8-5
2. Kendra Kappes/Rachel Gantz (WSU) def. Leong, Eileen/Bruss, Anastasia (MARY) 8-2
3. Tayla Card/Katie Scruggs (WSU) def. Anderson, Lisa/Stevenson, Shanna (MARY) 8-5
 
Match Notes:
Winona State 11-6, 8-3 NSIC
University of Mary 4-12, 2-9 NSIC
 
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