Saint Mary's remains undefeated in MIAA
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
The Saint Mary's tennis team seems to have acquired a taste for victory.
Two definitive wins on Thursday and Saturday have left the Belles undefeated and in first place in the MIAA.
Saint Mary's topped University of Chicago on Saturday 6-3 to up its record to a perfect 10-0, avenging a 5-4 loss to the Maroons last year.
Things got off to a rocky start at Saturday's match at Angela as four of the Belles six singles players dropped their first set to the Maroons of Chicago — Annie Knish at No. 1 singles, Natalie Cook at No. 2 singles, Jeannie Knish at No. 3 singles, and Elisa Ryan and No. 6 singles. But the Belles came back as Jeannie Knish and Ryan claimed the win over their opponents in successive matches.
"I think that we have a lot more depth this year and we're really strong in our singles spots all the way across the board," team captain Annie Knish said. "I think that our singles positions are almost a guarantee and we really rely on those points."
Annie Knish, who dropped her first match 6-2, claimed solid victories over Chicago's Lisa Kahn 6-3, 6-3 in the next two sets to claim the point for Saint Mary's. Ryan also came out of her second and third sets with solid play, defeating Mary Tan 6-2,6-3.
Freshmen Kaitlin Cutler and Kris Spriggle took their opponents without worrying the fans, claiming 2-0 victories over Chicago's No. 4 and No. 5 singles players. Cutler went 6-0, 6-2, and Spriggle claimed two sets 6-1, 6-4.
After dropping their singles matches, Annie Knish and Cook were hungry for a victory in doubles. They filled that appetite with an 8-2 victory over the Maroons' team of Jon Lee (who won No. 1 singles) and Nina Prasad (who dropped No. 5 singles).
"We had such a good time our joke is that we wish we could play singles together," Knish said. "I feel I am a much stronger doubles player. Natalie and I just go out there and we have great chemistry and we just get each other motivated and we stay focus and hungrier for the points."
Jeannie Knish and Cutler followed with an 8-3 victory to wrap up the sixth point in the Saint Mary's victory.
The victory over the University of Chicago came close on the heels of a win over conference leader Hope that put the Belles at the top of the MIAA. The Belles soundly defeated the Flying Dutch of Hope College 7-2, bringing their MIAA record to 3-0 and giving them a first place ranking in the MIAA.
"I thought that I would never see the day when Saint Mary's would be first in the MIAA , so I am extremely ecstatic about it," Knish said. "It's an unbelievable accomplishment and I'm incredibly proud of our team."
The Belles claimed five singles matches and two doubles matches to smoke out the MIAA victory. Cook claimed the No. 2 singles victory 2-1 (2-6, 6-4, 6-2), joined by Jeannie Knish (6-1,6-0), Cutler (6-2,6-0), Spriggle (6-4, 6-4) and Ryan (4-6, 6-3, 6-3).
On the doubles front, the team of Annie Knish and Cook claimed a close 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles, joined by Jeannie Knish and Cutler who took an easy 6-0, 6-3 win.
The young Saint Mary's team just proved to be stronger than Hope.
"I believe they're a very young team as well," Knish said. "They lost a couple of key players but it was definitely a strong win. Our line-up and our team were much stronger."
On Sunday, head coach Dee Stevenson gave his starting players a rest and played a different line-up in a non-conference loss to Tri-State. The B-squad recorded the first loss for Saint Mary's on the season.
"We're a little upset because we were undefeated," Knish said. "God love him [Steveson], he had good intentions but he cut the match a little too close. It wasn't a conference match and the B-Team got an opportunity to play."
Saint Mary's will face off against Calvin College on Tuesday at home at 3 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 9, 2001
