BEMIDJI, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston tennis team returned to action March 26 after a month between matches. The Golden Eagles fell 9-0 to Bemidji State University and 8-1 to University of Wisconsin-River Falls at Gillett Recreation and Fitness Center in Bemidji, Minn.
The Golden Eagles fall to 0-11 on the season with Sunday's losses.
Hanna Ruckheim picked up a win at No. 3 singles against Wisconsin-River Falls after taking the first set 6-4 and winning after an injury caused Krista Haglund to withdraw.
In doubles,
Whitney Erickson (Jr., Spring Valley, Minn.) and
Reanne Erickson (So., Fargo, N.D.) put up a test at the No. 1 slot, but ultimately fell 8-5 Brittany Asfeld and Haglund. At No. 2 doubles, Ruckheim and
Adrianna Tiede (Fr., LeCenter, Minn.) fell 8-1 to Anna Ebensperger and Hannah Andress. The Falcons took No. 3 doubles by forfeit.
In singles,
Whitney Erickson played strong but ultimately dropped the No. 1 slot 6-3, 6-3 to Asfeld. At the No. 2 slot, Ebensperger upended
Reanne Erickson, 6-2, 6-2. At the No. 4 slot, Tiede fell to Karli Helland, 6-1, 6-0. At No. 5 singles,
Tien Nguyen (Sr., Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) fell 6-3, 6-0 to Aliza Doherty.
Against Bemidji State, Whitney and
Reanne Erickson put up a strong match at the No. 1 doubles slot, but they would ultimately fall to Morgan Opp and Zoe Lindgren, 8-5. At No. 2 doubles, Tiede and Ruckheim were upended 8-0 Sabrina Okeson and Breann Walsh. The Beavers would take No. 3 doubles by forfeit.
In singles,
Whitney Erickson would take two games at the No. 1 slot but would fall 6-1, 6-1 to Opp. At the No. 2 spot,
Reanne Erickson was defeated 6-1, 6-0 to Hannah Alme. At the No. 3 spot, Ruckheim fell to Brooke Mimmack, 6-0, 6-0. At No. 4 singles, Tiede was defeated 6-0, 6-0 by Claudia Bellew. At the No. 5 spot, Nguyen fell to Hope Johnson, 6-0, 6-0. The Beavers took the No. 6 slot by forfeit.
"Today was a good opportunity for us to play two strong teams in Bemidji State and Wisconsin-River Falls," said Head Coach
Lee Meier. "BSU is a team in our conference who will finish fourth or fifth. I was pleased with the match Whitney and Reanne (Erickson) had at No. 1 doubles against Bemidji State. It was a very competitive match with a few key points making the difference for BSU. Against River Falls, we had a lot of strong matches that really could have gone either way. I was impressed with our competitiveness and we keep on improving as the season goes along."
Minnesota Crookston will return to action April 1 at 3 p.m. against Minnesota State University Moorhead in Virginia, Minn.
