St. Olaf Results | St. Catherine Results

Bethel's women's tennis team began its season with a pair of matches against conference opponents. On Friday night, the Royals traveled down to Owatonna to take on the St. Olaf Oles for their first match, but were defeated in straight sets in both singles and doubles. Steph Brown (Fr., Lake City, Minn.) and Krista Nauman (So., Buffalo, Minn.) scored the best against their Ole counterparts.

Head coach Dan Morton said, "We had a case of the first match jitters, but we got better as we played. It's all about putting the ball smoothly in the court, and we didn't do that tonight.. However, I liked our attitude because we never quit."

Then on Saturday afternoon, the Royals returned to play closer to home when they took on the St. Catherine Wildcats at the Public Indoor Tennis facility in Fridley. Bethel played much better as both Brown and Ashley Watts (Sr., Winona, Minn.) defeated their opponents, but the Royals still lost 7-2.

Morton said, "We played better and the points we played were longer. Still, we need to work on our consistency and to be able to hit targets and finish points."

Bethel begins the season 0-2 overall and in conference play. The Royals are scheduled to take on Carleton College on Saturday, Feb. 20, beginning at 3 p.m. in Northfield for their next match.