OWATONNA, Minn. – The No. 1 seeded Carleton College women's tennis team is headed back to the MIAC Playoff Finals after dispatching of cross-town foe and No. 5 seed St. Olaf College by a 5-0 tally during the teams' semifinal contest on Friday evening.
 
The Knights (19-0) will next face No. 2 seed Gustavus Adolphus College in the finals of the conference tournament, with the winner earning the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
 
Carleton swept the three doubles matches and never looked back
 
The Knights' No. 2 doubles pairing of Mariam Nechiporuk (So./Portland, Ore./Lake Oswego) and Ingrid Smith (So./Edina, Minn./Edina) was first to prevail, improving to 13-0 as a tandem this season after cruising to an 8-0 victory
 
At No. 1 doubles, Amelia Asfaw (So./Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep) and Mary Frances Hose (Jr./Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to triumph 8-6 in a matchup of regionally-ranked duos. The Carleton pairing is ranked No. 15 in Central Region by the ITA, while the Oles' Allie Prokosch and Olha Zubarieva are ranked No. 12 in the region.
 
Amanda Black (So./Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Alise Pedersen (Sr./San Anselmo, Calif./The Branson School) needed a tiebreaker to fend off their opponents at No. 3 doubles by an 8-7 (8-6) score.
 
Carleton claimed the first set in all six singles matches, and it quickly became a race to see which two Knights would prevail and secure the team victory
 
Hose won her 10th consecutive match at No. 2 singles, posting a 6-1, 6-2 result. Miriam Shteyman (So./Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) followed soon after with her 6-4, 6-1 triumph at No. 4 singles.
 
Asfaw, ranked No. 19 in the region, led Zubarieva, No. 21 in region, 6-3, 2-1 at No. 1 singles when play was halted. Nechiporuk held a 6-2, 3-2 lead at No. 3 singles, while Smith was in front 6-4, 5-1 at the fifth slot. Zoe Rose (So./Tacoma, Wash./Charles Wright Academy) was close to wrapping up her match and led 6-1, 5-3 when the match-clinching point was scored elsewhere.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will host Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC Playoff Finals, a match that will be held weather-permitting at the Pat Lamb Tennis Courts beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29. This will the eighth time since 2007 that these teams have met in the finals, including last spring when the Knights bested the Gusties, 5-1.