Belles Battle Past Hornets

• The Belles earned their first win over Kalamazoo since 2008 with a 5-4 victory.
• Monica Davy/Megan Davy and Kelsey Kopf/Elizabeth Preister earned doubles wins.
• Preister, Lilly Chamberlin, and Maddie Minaudo won their singles matches.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - It came down to the final match on the court, and Maddie Minaudo came through with a decisive third-set to clinch a 5-4 team win for the Saint Mary's tennis team over Kalamazoo on Thursday evening.

The entire match was closely contested from start to finish. Monica Davy and Megan Davy claimed a one doubles win in a tiebreaker by a 9-8 (7-4) score. Kelsey Kopf and Elizabeth Preister prevailed in an 8-5 final at three doubles. Maddie Minaudo and Lilly Chamberlin, however, suffered an 8-2 setback at two doubles.

Chamberlin came right back to pull the Belles ahead 3-1 overall with a 6-2, 6-2 win at five singles. Monica Davy was stopped short in a 6-2, 6-2 final at one singles, and Megan Davy fell by a 6-2, 6-4 score at two singles as Kalamazoo pulled even in the overall team score at 3-3. Elizabeth Preister out-dueled her counterpart at six singles with a big 7-6 (7-6), 6-4 nailbiter to give Saint Mary's the 4-3 overall edge. Kelsey Kopf won her opening set in a tiebreaker before coming up just short in a 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-1 final at three singles to set up the dramatic late night finish.

Maddie Minaudo fell behind early in her opening set by a 5-2 margin before storming back for a 7-6 (8-4) win at four singles. Her opponent took the second set by a 6-3 score as the tension continued to build. Minaudo opened up the third set by breaking her counterpart's serve. That service break led to a big shift in the momentum as the senior held serve and broke serve again to quickly pull ahead 3-0. The two battled their way through several lengthy volleys - one of which surpassed 50 combined strokes - as Minaudo continued to find a way to win the big points. Now leading 5-0 yet trailing 30-40, the senior served up a big ace down the center of the court. She quickly went up in deuce with the advantage and closed out the match victory and the team win by holding serve for the 6-0 third-set final.

The win over Kalamazoo comes ten years to the day of the Belles' last victory over the Hornets. Saint Mary's last defeated Kalamazoo on April 19, 2008 by a 6-3 score at home.

The Belles (11-5, 5-0 MIAA) travel to Hope on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. conference match against the Flying Dutch.

Saint Mary's College 5, Kalamazoo College 4
Singles competition
1. Maria Franco (KZOO-W) def. Monica Davy (SMC) 6-2, 6-2
2. Maddy Winarski (KZOO-W) def. Megan Davy (SMC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Helen Pelak (KZOO-W) def. Kelsey Kopf (SMC) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-1
4. Maddie Minaudo (SMC) def. Alex Oswalt (KZOO-W) 7-6 (8-4), 3-6, 6-0
5. Lilly Chamberlin (SMC) def. Bella Russo (KZOO-W) 6-2, 6-2
6. Elizabeth Preister (SMC) def. Sonal Bahl (KZOO-W) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Monica Davy/Megan Davy (SMC) def. Maria Franco/Sonal Bahl (KZOO-W) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Alex Oswalt/Maddy Winarski (KZOO-W) def. Maddie Minaudo/Lilly Chamberlin (SMC) 8-2
3. Kelsey Kopf/Elizabeth Preister (SMC) def. Helen Pelak/Bella Russo (KZOO-W) 8-5