Many of St. Thomas’ spring sports teams were in action this weekend.

Women’s tennis pushes undefeated streak to six

Kara Lefsrud continued her unbeaten streak in both singles and doubles to help the St. Thomas women’s tennis team to a convincing 7-2 victory over St. Olaf Friday.  

The Tommies (6-0 overall, 2-0 MIAC) swept all three doubles matches and only dropped No. 2 and No. 5 singles. Being undefeated through six matches is an accomplishment the team is very proud of, Brittany Alexander said.

“It’s great,” Alexander said. “It’s super exciting. It says a lot about the program.”

Talent is a large part of success, but Alexander said her team’s winning ways are an attribute of more than just talent.

“We work hard and practice, especially during the offseason,” Alexander said.

St. Olaf (2-2 overall, 2-1 MIAC) received singles wins from Julia Ellis and Maya MacGibbon.

The No. 1 doubles combination of Shelby Henderson and Mary Allen brought home an 8-2 victory. No. 2 doubles saw Bridget Noack and Kara Lefsrud cruise 8-1 and No. 3 doubles pair Brittany Alexander and Claire Elkin got by 8-4.

The Tommies received wins from four singles spots: Henderson (3-6, 6-1, 17-15), Noack (6-3, 6-1), Lefsrud (6-0, 6-1) and Alexander (6-2, 4-6, 10-4).

Next up for the Tommies is a home match at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center Saturday against St. Mary’s.

Strong doubles leads men’s tennis past St. Olaf

The St. Thomas men’s tennis (5-0 overall, 3-0 MIAC) doubles teams swept all three matches, as well as No. 3, 4 and 5 singles defeating St. Olaf 6-3 in Owatonna, Minn. Saturday afternoon.

St. Thomas No. 3 singles player Mitchell Blackey got by in three sets (7-6, ((7-5)), 6-4). At No. 4 singles, Brady Radermacher won handily (6-1, 6-2) and at No. 5 singles Allen-Michael Muench cruised (6-0, 6-2).

No. 1 doubles team Brian McCarthy and Blackey made quick work of St. Olaf (8-4). At No. 2 doubles, Brendan O’Connell and Radermacher won (8-4), as well as the Tommies’ No. 3 doubles players Allen-Michael Muench and Steven Skanse, winning (8-3).

“It’s a great feat for us, since last year we lost to St. Olaf,” Skanse said. “It’s been a great start to the season.”

Up next for St. Thomas is a home match Saturday against St. Mary’s at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.

“I know that (St. Mary’s) has a nationally-ranked doubles team, so our number one doubles team is going to have a tough match, but we believe in them,” Skanse said.

No. 21 softball goes 4-2 in Georgia tournament

All-American second baseman Kimmy Hassell’s Friday performance helped the No. 21-ranked St. Thomas softball team to a Friday sweep, which propelling the team forward to take home sixth place at the 2013 Division III NFCA Leadoff Classic this past weekend in Columbus, Ga.

The three-day tournament featured 24 teams from 20 states.

St. Thomas (8-2) swept its Friday games with Willamette (Ore.) 4-0 and St. John Fisher (N.Y.) 2-0 behind strong starting pitching. Hassell drove in both runs on a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the fifth inning against St. John Fisher.

On Saturday, the Tommies posted their third consecutive shutout of the tournament, a 4-0 victory over Methodist (N.C.). In three pool play games, the Tommies outscored their opponents 10-0 and had a 27-11 advantage in hits.

St. Thomas defeated E. Texas Baptist 7-6 Sunday morning to advance to the consolation championship game where Texas-Tyler proved to be too much, posting a 8-0 win.

Gustavus also competed in the tournament, going 2-2 on the weekend.

Hassell said the women were able to see what their strengths and weaknesses were in Georgia, and plan to work on improving before their spring trip to Florida.

“We’re just looking to get better,” Hassell said. “We saw what we needed to work on (in Georgia), and we have two more weeks to do that.”

The Tommies next travel to Clermont (Fla.) March 23 to battle Carroll (Wis.) in the opening game of their spring trip.