ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs begin on Friday, May 1, and the Bethel Royals will enter the postseason on a winning note after handing the Hamline Pipers an 8-1 loss at home.

The Royals won two out of three matches in doubles play, with Tom Ronning (Jr., Alexandria, Minn.) and Kent Nichols (Fr., Milaca, Minn.) winning decisively 8-0. Ronning, Nichols, and the rest of the team swept through singles with relative ease with no set going to a tiebreaker game.

With the win, Bethel met the MIAC preseason poll's expectations of a third place finish. This year marks the second in a row that Bethel has gone 7-2 in conference play, finishing behind only nationally ranked Carleton and Gustavus. The Royals were 10-5 overall and now look forward to the first round of conference playoffs, which kick off at noon against St. Thomas on Friday down in St. Peter, Minn., on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus.