St. Paul, Minn. – The Carleton College women's tennis team took two of three doubles matches and all six singles contests in racing past Macalester, 8-1.

The win secured a top-three finish for the Knights (12-5, 8-1 MIAC) for the fourth straight season. The Knights are currently in a second-place tie with St. Benedict at 8-1 in conference play, with Gustavus Adolphus leading the way at 6-0. St. Thomas, Hamline and St. Olaf all trail the Knights by two matches in the loss column and Carleton has but one regular-season match remaining, facing the league-leading Gusties on Saturday.

Seniors Sarah Russell (The Woodlands, Texas/Rolling Meadows, Ill.) and Eryn Koch (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome) got things rolling in doubles play, taking one game to adjust to the blustery conditions before reeling off eight straight games for victory at first doubles.

The Knights were even more dominant in singles play, winning all six matches in straight sets. Russell's punishing groundstrokes from the top slot resulted in a 6-3, 6-1 victory, while Koch and Sarah Wehrly (So./College Station, Texas/A&M Consolidated) took 'don't blink' decisions at second and sixth singles, dropping a combined four games between them.

Carleton concludes its regular-season slate by traveling to St. Peter, Minn., to face Gustavus at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 22.