After putting the wraps on its most successful regular season in over a decade, the University of Minnesota Duluth will now shift its focus on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament and a first-round matchup against Bemidji State University Saturday afternoon (April 21) at Lifetime Fitness in Minnetonak, Minn.

The Bulldogs, who posted their best regular season winning percentage (.692 off a 9-4 record) since 2007, tied both Bemidji State and the University of Sioux Falls for fourth place in the final NSIC standings at 7-4. That represents the highest NSIC finish for a UMD club in 15 years. Bemidji State was awarded the No. 4 seed for the eight-team NSIC Tournament based on a tiebreaker while UMD was seeded fifth and Sioux Falls sixth.

Freshman Natalie Cahill currently leads the 2018 Bulldogs in singles winning percentage with a .875 mark (she's 7-1, all at No. 4) and senior Katie Baasch has racked up a team-leading nine singles victories (9-4). UMD, which had its last three matches of the regular season canceled due to inclement weather, has a pair of individuals both sporting 8-5 singles records in senior Shelby Benkofske (No. 1) and sophomore Elsa Erickson (No. 3).  Benkofske and sophomore Megan Anderson have teamed up to go 8-5 at No. 1 doubles while Baasch and Ericskon are 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

After a six-season absence, UMD returned to the NSIC Tournament one year ago, when it bowed out in the first round to eventual champion Augustana University.

The Bulldogs will practice this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 2 p.m. at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center.