The University of Minnesota Duluth women's tennis team opened NSIC Tournament conference play today. The team, seeded No. 7 coming into the tournament, was matched up against No.2 seeded Winona State, and won the doubles point before falling in the singles matches. With this result, the Bulldogs bow out of the conference tournament and return home to Duluth.

Both the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles pairs for UMD defeated their Warriors counterparts. In the No. 1 position, Mallory Lithun and Shay Callaway won 6-4. Since moving up into the No. 1 spot midway through the season, the pair only lost one match. Emily Rahrick and Abby Johnson, the No. 3 pairing, would seal the doubles victory today for the Bulldogs with a 7-5 win. Isabel Thiner and Sophie Lynch, playing in the No. 2 spot, would drop their set 6-0.

Ultimately though, the Bulldogs would not be able to sustain the momentum of the doubles win and would drop all of their singles matches to Winona State, despite team members playing close for the duration.

For Head Coach Jessica Worden, the culmination of today's match was a time to reflect on this past season, as strange as it may have been: "I'm so proud of each and every woman on our team! They have overcome so many obstacles this season and to win the seventh seed at the conference tournament is thrilling. Battling against Winona today was exciting -- to win the doubles point and go into singles up a point was a huge goal that we achieved today."

Coach Worden was also able to reflect on her graduating student-athletes and the role they have played on the team: "Sophie played an amazing match at one singles today -- her final match as a Bulldog was bittersweet to watch. Our captains, Natalie and Isabel, have devoted so much time, energy, and love to the team this season and there are no words to truly thank them enough for their service." 

For those graduating student-athletes, today's conference tournament match was truly a testament to the strength of their team and its growth over the past season. Senior Captain Natalie Cahill remarked, "Doubles came out really strong and controlled the points from the beginning, which was a huge thing we've been working on all season. We left everything on the court in singles, and it was fun to see how much everyone's game has improved, even in the past two weeks. I'm so proud of these ladies, not only for their grittiness and battling on the court, but for the way they support each other and make this team a family."

Senior captain Isabel Thiner echoed her co-captain's pride in the team: "I'm just so proud of how everyone chose to bring their best mental game and continued to fight no matter what the score was. No one gave up!"

Pride was a common theme among the coach and the players. Sophie Lynch, who will be graduating early after three seasons with the team, noted that "this tournament is always tough, but we persevered and played our absolute hearts out. I am so very proud of this group of girls. I'm so sad that this is my last match but I love this team so much."

With today's loss, UMD finishes the season at 5-7. For full results from this season, click here.