They were down, but certainly not out.
The University of Minnesota Duluth found itself trailing St. Mary's University 4-1 Saturday night before rallying with four straight single victories en route to derailing the Cardinals 5-4 at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center. It marked the first season-opening victory since 2012 for the Bulldogs, who had come into the non-conference match having posted exhibition triumphs over both the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Wisconsin-Superior last weekend.
After teaming up with sophomore
Elsa Erickson to prevail at No. 2 doubles, senior
Katie Baasch won in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) at No. 5 singles. Freshman
Natalie Cahill also dispatched her No. 4 singles opponent in just two sets (6-2, 6-2) while both senior co-captain
Shelby Benkofske and rookie
Isabel Thiner needed a third-set tie breaker to clinch victories at No. 1 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
The Bulldogs will make their 2018 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference debuts in Moorhead, Minn. next weekend with matches against the University of Mary (Friday) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead (Saturday).
UMD-St. Mary's Match Results
