< clash of nationally-ranked teams, the No. 35 Carleton College women’s tennis team knocked off No. 38-ranked Bethel University on Sunday by a 7-2 margin. Additionally, both teams had entered the afternoon undefeated in MIAC action.
Carleton (13-2, 7-0 MIAC) has clinched a berth in the MIAC Playoffs, and Sunday’s result guarantees the team a home match to begin the postseason.
The Knights won two of the three doubles matches. Kristina Conrad (Sr./Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) and Madeline Prins (Jr./Pacific Palisades, Calif./Palisades Charter) prevailed in a match between nationally-ranked tandems. The Carleton duo is ranked No. 22 in the country and knocked off the No. 10 duo of Maggie and Grace Riermann by an 8-5 tally.
Sonya Romanenko (Fy./San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) and Elizabeth Yim (So./Orange, Calif./Villa Park) notched Carleton’s other doubles victory, 8-2 at third doubles. Bethel (15-3, 5-1 MIAC) got a point back with a tiebreaker victory at second doubles.
In singles, Conrad posted her fifth consecutive straight-set victory, this time beating Mackenzie Novak by a 6-4, 6-1 score. Faith Yim (So./Orange, Calif./Villa Park) added a 6-2, 6-1 win at fifth singles, and Elizabeth Yim secured the team victory with her 6-3, 6-2 triumph at sixth singles.
Both Romanenko and Jeanny Zhang (Fy./Guangzhou, China/Dwight School) came back from a set down to topple their regionally-ranked opponents.
Romanenko is ranked No. 8 in the Central Region and edged No. 9 Grace Rierman in a super tiebreaker 1-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5). This was Romanenko’s 12th straight singles win. Meanwhile, Zhang took down No. 18 Maggie Rierman by a 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) tally.