GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle tennis team hosted University of Mary Marauders on Friday and Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons on Saturday afternoon. The UMC players faced both opponents at Choice Health & Fitness in Grand Forks, N.D., which is considered Golden Eagle home turf.

At No. 1 doubles, Catherine Brown (Jr., Powell Butte, Ore./Animal Science) together with Whitney Erickson (Fr., Spring Valley, Minn./Elementary Education) faced the No. 1 Sarah Jones/Catherine Gibbons duo. Mary saw no problem with UMC's No. 1 doubles and handed a 0-8 loss to them.

No. 2 doubles were no different, Christina Smith (Fr., Oylen, Minn./Communications) and Nikki Dogan (Fr., Grand Forks, N.D./Health Science) succumbed to Meredith Holt/Courtney Brackin, also 0-8.

The no. 3 doubles for Golden Eagles could not get anything going either, as Rachelle Alcini (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Health Science) with Chelsea Burrows (So., Eagan, Minn.) dropped the match 0-8 to Kate O'Connell/Anastasia Brass double.

The best-performing UMC tennis player on the late Friday afternoon was Brown. Once again at No. 1 singles, she was able to fight, but lost to Jones 1-6 and 3-6 nevertheless.

Erickson keeps improving her game at the No. 2 singles position, however, her effort fell short of Gibbons' effort, losing 2-6 and 1-6.

The third singles player Smith could not get a game going her way, dropping two 0-6 sets to Holt.  

UMC's No. 4 and No. 5 had the same results, when Dogan lost to Bruss, and Alcini to O'Connell, both going 0-6.

At the No. 6, Burrows was able to score, but still losing 1-6 and 0-6 to Brackin.

The losses on Friday afternoon moved the Golden Eagles to 0-11 on the season, with 0-7 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.   

By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around, the University of Minnesota Crookston were ready to take on the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons. The Golden Eagles were unable to get a victory on the afternoon either, leaving the weekend with two 0-9 losses.

No. 1 doubles Brown and Erickson dropped 0-8 games to Jessamy Jones/Ashley Wood.
Smith and Dogan were at no. 2 doubles again, but lost  against Morgan Smith/Andrea Rognlien, losing 0-8.
No. 3 doubles did not see any different of a score, when Alcini/Burrows double for UMC could not find a way to defeat Jamie Frieden/Jenna Andre and fell 0-8 to them as well.

Brown was at no. 1 singles again, facing Andrea Rognlien. Brown was able to get a few things right, but still dropping the match 0-6 and 1-6.

Erickson faced Jessamy Jones at no. 2, and kept her game up for a while. After the game was all settled and done, she took the losses 2-6 and 1-6, which turned out to be the best Golden Eagle performance on the Saturday afternoon.

Smith played No. 3 Morgan Smith and could not get a major win for UMC, going 1-6 and 0-6.

Dogan's match at No. 4 against MSU-M's Ashley Wood did not go as planned, with Dogan falling 0-6 in both games.

No. 5 singles featured Alcini and Cassie Smith. Alcini found a way to win one set in each game, losing 1-6 twice.

Last, but not least, no. 6 singles had Burrows battle Rebecca Lukes, with the score not going in UMC's favor, losing 0-6 twice.

With the 0-9 sweep on Saturday afternoon, the Golden Eagles are 0-12 (0-8 NSIC) and are still waiting for their first victory.

The Golden Eagles will face Bemidji State University Sun., March 30 at 3:30 p.m. in Grand Forks, N.D. Their next chance after that will be on April 11, when the University of Minnesota Crookston tennis team heads down Highway 2 to Bemidji, Minn., facing Southwest Minnesota State University at 1 p.m., and Minnesota State University, Mankato at 5 p.m.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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The University of Minnesota Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).