Close Calls Go Awry

FARGO, N.D. (4/20/21)---The final score reads 7-2 in favor of St. Benedict over Concordia, but a closer look at the individual match scores reveals that the team decision could have gone either way.

The Cobbers trailed 2-1 after doubles play, and then four of the six singles matches went to either a super-set tiebreaker or featured a tiebreaker in the decision. Unfortunately for Concordia, they dropped all four of the close calls in singles play and lost the team match.

The Cobbers are now 3-6 in all matches this season and 1-6 in the MIAC. St. Ben's is also 3-6 overall and records its first conference win to improve to 1-5.

The No.1 doubles team of Raquel Egge and Jenna Forknell continued their recent strong play. They won 8-3 and have now been victorious in four of their last five matches. They are now 4-5 for the season.

Egge would carry the momentum from the doubles win over to singles play where she posted a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No.1 singles. Like her doubles slate, Egge has heated up as the calendar rolls towards the end of April. She has won three straight singles bouts and four of her last five. Egge's four singles wins leads Concordia.

The four close calls in singles play involved Forknell, Carolyn Voss, Emily Savageau and Anna Hacker.

Forknell took the lead in her match at No.2 singles with a 6-2 victory in the opening set. She then lost 6-3 in the second set and couldn't recover – dropping a 10-3 decision in the super-set.

Savageau had the other match that was decided in the super-set tiebreaker. Like Forknell, she won the first set but then lost the next two. She opened with a 7-5 win at No.4 singles but then fell 6-3 and 10-5.

Voss and Hacker both had quality chances to extend their matches to a super-set but both lost in a tiebreaker in the second set. Voss lost 6-2 in set No.1 at No.5 singles and then staged a back-and-forth battle in the second set, only to lose in the tiebreaker.

Hacker, playing at No.6 singles, lost 6-3 in the opener and then fought back to a 6-6 score in the second set before dropping a 7-4 score in the tiebreaker.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish with two road matches. The Cobbers will take on Macalester on Sunday, Apr. 25 and then finish off the season at St. Olaf on Saturday, May 1.

College of Saint Benedict 7, Concordia-M'head 2
Apr 20, 2021 at Fargo, N.D. (Courts Plus)

Singles competition
1. Raquel Egge (CC) def. Kayla McIver (CSB) 6-1, 6-3
2. Lily Fredericks (CSB) def. Jenna Forknell (CC) 2-6, 6-3, 10-3
3. Peyton Kopel (CSB) def. Brianna Bell (CC) 6-1, 6-0
4. Jane Bodensteiner (CSB) def. Carolyn Voss (CC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Maria Bedford (CSB) def. Emily Savageau (CC) 5-7, 6-3, 10-5
6. Grace Lee (CSB) def. Anna Hacker (CC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)

Doubles competition
1. Raquel Egge/Jenna Forknell (CC) def. Kayla McIver/Lily Fredericks (CSB) 8-3
2. Peyton Kopel/Jane Bodensteiner (CSB) def. Carolyn Voss/Emily Savageau (CC) 8-4
3. Maria Bedford/Grace Lee (CSB) def. Anna Hacker/Greta Reichmann (CC) 8-1