SARTELL, Minn. – The No. 17-ranked Carleton College women's tennis team captured the outright MIAC regular-season title thanks to a 9-0 victory over College of Saint Benedict. This marks the seventh MIAC regular-season championship for the Knights, who previously won outright titles in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2023 in addition to a shared crown in 2016.
 
Carleton (15-0, 10-0 MIAC) was nearly perfect during the conference season, outscoring the opposition 89-1 in MIAC matches.
 
The Knights went undefeated in MIAC matches for the second straight year and have won their last 27 matches against conference opponents (regular season and postseason) dating back to April 16, 2022. Carleton is now 53-3 (.946) overall spanning the last three seasons, with each of those three losses coming against a nationally-ranked opponent, including two setbacks to teams ranked No. 1 team in the country.

"We are very happy to finish the regular season in a positive way," said Carleton head coach Luciano Battaglini. "This group has grown tremendously over the past few months. I'm very happy to see so much individual and team growth, and that's where we choose to focus our energy on!"
 
Mary Hose and Amelia Asfaw set the tone early for Carleton, blitzing their opponents at No. 1 doubles by an 8-0 tally to move to 10-0 on the year. Mariam Nechiporuk and Ingrid Smith followed with an 8-2 triumph at the second slot, winning their fifth consecutive match. Kat Smiricinschi and Ryann Witter secured an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles, improving to a team-best 11-0 in tandem play.
 
Zoe Rose continued her undefeated campaign as she extended the Carleton lead to 4-0 with a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles. From there it was a close race to see who could secure the fifth team point.
 
Hose was next to finish, notching her eighth consecutive win after defeating her No. 2 singles opponent 6-0, 6-0 for the second consecutive match. She has dropped seven total games over her last six matches. Miriam Shteyman added a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles to pick up her 12th victory of the season moments before Nechiporuk prevailed 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
 
Seeking to avoid the shutout, Saint Benedict (7-9, 5-5 MIAC) sent the matches at No. 1 and No. 5 singles to super tiebreakers, but both times the Knights proved victorious.
 
Asfaw won 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4) atop the lineup and is now 11-0 on the year. Meanwhile Kiley Pickens dropped the first set at No. 5 singles before rallying for a 3-6, 6-3, 1-9 (10-5) victory to improve to a team-best 15-0 on the season.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton is the top seed for the MIAC Playoffs. The Knights will host a semifinal match (against an opponent yet to be determined) at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 2