DULUTH — The Bemidji State tennis team had a tough time this weekend in Duluth.
It was a quick turnaround for the Beavers on Saturday. After losing 2-5 to Minnesota Duluth late Friday night, the Beavers got up early to take on St. Cloud State with the Huskies clinching the 6-1 win in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game.
St. Cloud State (5-4, 1-3 NSIC) started strong and took the colon with a sweep. Blanca Lopez-Oro and Nicoleta Anestiadi competed for BSU in 1st place in doubles, Emilia Sand/Isabela Nelson in 2nd place and Lexi Leitner/Laura Burger in 3rd place. All three games ended with the same score of 6:2 in favor the huskies.
Though St. Cloud State won five of the six singles games, Bemidji State (2-9, 1-4 NSIC) came close in multiple matchups. Lopez-Oro grabbed her fourth singles win of the season, all at No. 1, after walking away with the win on Saturday. Lopez-Oro fended off a 6-3 setback in the opening set to come back strong. She won the next two sets, both in 7-6 tiebreak fashion.
Anestiadi also went down three sets in her 3rd place matchup. Similar to Lopez-Oro, Anestiadi lost the first set with a 6-3 score. She came back with a hard-fought 6-4 second set win to push the match into a crucial third set. It would be another close decider in the deciding set, but St. Cloud State walked away with the break and held on to the 6-4 win.
Sand made a push to 2nd in her second set. After falling 6-0 in the opener, Sand hit back and won four games in the second set before falling narrowly 6-4.
Lily Jones also won four games in her 6th-ranked matchup. She won two games in each set before losing in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
Burger in 4th place and Nelson in 5th place each won two games in their matches. Burger fell 6-1, 6-1 and Nelson lost 6-0, 6-2.
Against Minnesota Duluth (6-2, 3-1 NSIC) on Friday night, the Beavers grabbed the double but failed to win the overall matchup as UMD clinched the 5-2 win.
Leitner and Burger continued their strong play in doubles No. 3 and rolled to a 6-3 win. After Sand and Nelson won three games in 2nd place but came up short with a 6-3 score, BSU’s best pair decided the colon. Lopez-Oro and Anestiadi won the first game before the Bulldogs’ duo had to retire, giving the Beavers the win and the colon.
In singles, Anestiadi won her seventh game of the season and grabbed the three-set win in 3rd place. Anestiadi came out strong, winning the first set 6-2. After losing the second set 6-3, she responded in the deciding set with the late break and held at love for the 6-3 win in the third.
Sand won five games at No. 2 before losing 6-3, 6-2. Jones counted four games in 6th place but failed to claim a set, trailing 6-3, 6-1.
Lopez-Oro at No. 1 and Burger at No. 4 each won three games and lost by equal set scores of 6-2, 6-1. Nelson entered at No. 5 and fell 6-1, 6-0.
Bemidji State will continue NSIC action at noon on Saturday, March 25 when it travels to Grand Forks, ND to face both Sioux Falls and Augustana.
