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Information courtesy of MLC Athletics
Women's Tennis
BLC 5, MLC 4
OWATONNA -- The Martin Luther College women's tennis squad was narrowly defeated (5-4) by the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings on Tuesday.
The two Upper Midwest Athletic Conference rivals had to play at the West Hills Tennis Center in Owatonna due to the weather conditions.
Despite the close loss, MLC put up one of their better performances of the season and gained a well-balanced attack from the whole team.
The Knights were 1-2 in the three doubles matches, dropping the first two: (2-8, 3-8), but picked up their first win in doubles play of the season (8-4) in the final match from the team of Abigail Schewe and Katie Kutz.
McKenzey Crowley secured her first singles victory of the 2023 season, edging out her number-one opponent, 6-4, 6-1. Josephine Bieberitz and Sarah Hoffe were close to picking up their first singles wins of the year in addition to Crowley, but were unable to edge out their opponents. Bieberitz lost 4-6, 7-5, while Hoffe was defeated 4-6, 6-7.
The Knights received two more wins from Schewe and Rachel Schoeneck. Schewe won her number-five match 7-5, 6-0, finding her groove in the second set to put away Elissa Moonen. Schoeneck won her number-six match with ease, beating Hannah LeMay 6-4, 6-1.
The Knights' record on the year goes to (1-8) and will get a much needed break from tennis, with over a week off until their next match, which is against UM-Morris on Wednesday, April 12.
Men's Tennis
BLC 6, MLC 3
OWATONNA -- The Martin Luther College men's tennis team was defeated 6-3, to the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings on Tuesday.
The match was also played at the West Hills Tennis Center in Owatonna due to the weather conditions. The Knights dropped their fourth consecutive match, but had one of their better performances in conference play.
The Knights took two of three doubles matches, with the lone win coming in the number-two match from Josiah Koelpin and Silas Steinbrenner, where the pair won 8-3.
MLC would struggle to get much traction in singles play, but found some momentum from Matthew Koelpin and Brian Friesenegger, who would go on to win their matches. Koelpin picked up his second singles victory of the season in his number-five match, 6-3, 6-2. Friesenegger sealed up his third win of the tennis season with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Javier Billon.
The Knights (1-7) shift their focus to UM-Morris and will face the Cougars on Wednesday, April 12, at 2:30 p.m.