Women’s Tennis is no joke, picks up seventh consecutive win

The Minnesota State Mavericks were hoping to pick up their tenth win of the season this weekend, but unfortunately, the patented late March Minnesota blizzard had other plans. 

Friday’s matchup with St. Cloud State was delayed due to weather conditions in Minnesota reaching an all-time annoyance. The match was canceled on the day of, and the teams are still working on setting a date to make it up. 

Moving forward, the Mavs traveled to Rogers Saturday to take on the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. It was April Fools day, but the Mavs were not messing around, sweeping the Bulldogs 7-0 while not dropping a single set.

To begin, sophomore Avery Stilwell and freshman McKenna DeMarce took a 6-3 win over Shay Callaway and Mallory Lithun in the No. 1 doubles match. Sophomore Freia Lawrence and senior Chiara Carnelutti followed suit, taking the No. 2 doubles match easily, 6-0. Despite already clinching the point for doubles, sophomore Hana Minsiy and freshman Daria Podmogilnaia took care of business in the No. 3 doubles match 6-1. 

To complete the sweep, the Mavs needed to win all six of the singles matches. Which they did. But they did it all without their normal No. 1 singles player, Lois Page, who did not play in an attempt to give her some rest.

Lawrence defeated Callaway 6-1 and 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match, and Carnelutti picked up a 6-2 and 6-3 victory in the No. 2 singles match. Stilwell handled the No. 3 match, winning 6-3 and 6-2. Oddly enough, Podmogilnaia won the No. 4 singles match with the same scores. DeMarce took the No. 5 singles match, winning convincingly 6-0 and 6-1. Minisy was the last domino that needed to fall, and she closed out the weekend with a 6-3 and 6-1 victory over Laura Palmer.

“I was very proud of the Mavs for all of the singles players earning straight-set wins,” said Mavs coach Jeff Thomae. “It says a lot about our depth that everyone could play up a spot and still have such convincing wins.”

With the St. Cloud State match being postponed, the Mavs now have four more matches before they turn their attention to the NSIC Tournament. As it stands now, the Mavs will face their next opponent on April 8, where they will travel to Owatonna to take on Southwest Minnesota State.

Write to Hayden Lee at Hayden.Lee@my.smsu.edu

Header Photo: The MSU Women’s Tennis team defeats Minnesota Duluth 7-0. (Courtesy MNSU Athletics)