NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College women's tennis team knocked off No. 31-ranked Bethel University 4-1 in the semifinals of the MIAC Playoffs. The No. 43-ranked Knights advance to the conference championship match for the fifth consecutive year and the 13th time in the last 14 non-CoVID affected seasons that Carleton completed.
The Knights' opponent in the finals is a familiar one as No. 2 seed Carleton will travel to No. 1 seed and No. 20-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College. The Knights and Gusties will meet in the playoff championship for the 11th time since 2007. The two programs have combined to win 16 of the 18 MIAC Women's Tennis Championships in playoff history with Carleton claiming nine titles and Gustavus winning nine crowns.
On Thursday, Carleton (14-5) earned the doubles point thanks to victories at the second and third slots. Carleton rookies
Varinn Sood and
Algara Dineva prevailed 6-4 over Bryna Eigenfeld and Claire Keller at No. 3 doubles. After Bethel (19-3) picked up a 6-4 triumph atop the doubles lineup thanks to its regionally-ranked duo of Lauryn Douglas and Michaella Sullivan, the Knights' pairing of
Kiley Pickens and
Gabriela Cilella put the best-of-three-series in the Carleton column by prevailing by a 7-5 margin over Payton Douglas and Lisey Langhus.
Singles play started with a 6-1, 6-1 victory for
Kat Smiricinschi over Zadie Walvatne at No. 6 singles. The result pushed Smiricinschi's season ledger to 7-1.
Not long after, Dineva earned her team-best 16th win of the season with a 6-1, 6-2 result over Malia McKinnon. That decision gave Carleton a 3-0 lead in the team competition.
Lauryn Douglas, ranked No. 20 in the region, got the Royals on the board with a 6-1, 6-4 result over
Giana Marks atop the lineup.
Both Pickens and
Peggy Fu captured the first set in their matches at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, with Fu ultimately getting to the finish line first to record a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Langhus. Fu improved to 15-3 on the season. Pickens led her match against Sullivan 6-4, 5-3 when play was halted.
Ryann Witter engaged in a tight contest at No. 3 singles. She dropped the opening set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-3) and was down 2-1 in the second set when the team result was determined.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton heads to St. Peter, Minn., for the MIAC Playoffs Championship against No. on Saturday, May 2. The start time will be determined by the results of the MIAC Men's Tennis semifinal matches on Friday. If Gustavus—which is also the No. 1 seed on the men's side—hosts both the men's and women's championship matches, the women's contest will be played at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the men's match at 3:30 p.m. If Gustavus only hosts the women's match, then it will be played at 1:00 p.m.
