BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Despite wins from Caitlin Shea (Sr./Joliet, Ill./Joliet Township West) and Danielle Vasiliev (Jr./Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) in both singles and doubles, the Carleton College women’s tennis team lost a back-and-forth battle against Augustana University, a NCAA Division II program, by a 5-4 score.

The Knights (2-1) absorbed their first loss of the season when the Vikings (3-1) rallied to win the day’s final two singles and grab the team victory.

The competition began with Augustana winning twice in doubles. Shea and Vasiliev tallied an 8-1 victory at the second slot for the Knights’ first point.

Upon moving to singles, the Vikings’ regionally-ranked Kornel Staniszewska won atop the lineup to give Augustana a 3-1 lead in the team competition. Shea got a point back for the Knights with her 6-1, 6-3 triumph at fourth singles, and Kristina Conrad (So./Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) leveled the match when she prevailed 6-2, 6-4 at the sixth slot.

Vasiliev was next to finish and gave Carleton a 4-3 lead with her 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 win at second singles.

Augustana escaped with the team victory after Meredith Lawrence and Taylor Jackson won at the fifth and third slots, respectively, with both matches requiring super tiebreakers.

Carleton next takes the court for a pair of matches in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Feb. 25-26. The first evening the Knights will face Kalamazoo (Mich.) College followed by a Sunday afternoon affair with host Coe College. Both of those teams are also regionally ranked.

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