Seniors Bridget Noack and Shelby Henderson ended their St. Thomas tennis careers along with the team’s season Thursday evening when the Tommies fell to Gustavus 5-2 in the MIAC tournament conference semifinals at Gustavus.
With both losses in the singles and doubles matches Thursday, Noack’s career record moved to 180-31. Henderson also dropped both of her matches against the Gusties, making her Tommie record 94-47. The one word Noack used to describe her career was “happy.”
“It was so much fun; I had some of the best experiences of my life that I can’t take back,” Noack said.
No. 1 doubles pair Noack and Henderson were overpowered in their doubles match against Gustavus senior Lizzy Stanczyk and junior Michaela Schulz, losing 8-3. Number two-ranked doubles pair Caitlin Bakke and Jenna Zimmerman dropped their match 8-5 and No. 3 pairing Paige Becher and Audra Hoffman lost 6-8.
Down 3-0 heading into the singles competition, Noack said the Tommies’ demeanor never changed.
“We never see that it’s over until it’s finally over. It’s hard to be down 3-0, but that really doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, so we just go out and fight, and there’s still a chance,” Noack said.
Fourth and fifth-ranked singles players sophomore Jenna Zimmerman and junior Paige Becher each won their matches. Zimmerman defeated sophomore Ally Baker 6-3 and 6-2, and Becker took down freshman Briana Hartmann 6-0 and 6-1.
Bakke, third-ranked single player, started off her match against senior Sid Dirks with a 6-2 first set win. Dirks battled back to take the second set 6-4 and defeated Bakke 6-2 in the third. Bakke said Dirks got better as the match went on.
“She really picked up her game, and then I kind of got in my head a little bit and let her get in my head and started playing her game instead of mine,” Bakke said.
Despite losing to the Gusties (20-7 overall), Tommie (16-3 overall) coach Terry Peck feels St. Thomas left St. Peter with a victory.
“There’s no quit in any of them,” Peck said. “It was important to leave on a high note, to finish our season on top, and that’s how we feel.”
Bakke leads a core of talented underclassmen with the Tommies expecting a strong group of freshmen next season.
“We’re just kind of looking for everybody to step up, and we have some new players coming in, some recruits, so we’re hopeful for them too,” Bakke said.
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.