ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Bethel University women's tennis team recorded a 5-4 win over St. Catherine University on Saturday as they improved to 4-3 in the conference.  The Royals are now in fifth-place in the MIAC standings with three conference matchups remaining in the regular season.
 
"This was a really great win for the ladies, probably one of the biggest that I can remember in the last couple years.  Every match was intense and I'm extremely proud of the girls for the intensity they showed today," said head coach Drew Fernelius.
 
Despite losing the No. 1 doubles match, the Royals rallied to capture both remaining doubles points to take a 2-1 lead heading into singles.  Mattie Kidder and Anna Browning gave Bethel their first point with an 8-6 victory in the No. 2 match while teammates Maddy Simpson and Samantha Hindt closed doubles play with an 8-4 win of their own.
 
Much like the doubles, the singles competition came down to the wire on Saturday as both teams fought to keep their playoff hopes alive.  The teams ultimately split the matches 3-3 with two courts going to a third-set tiebreaker to decide the outcome.  With the Royals already having secured two singles points behind straight-set wins from Browning and Jill Weinzettel, it was up to Sydney Parkinson to clinch the team victory.  Despite losing the first set and falling behind 2-5 in the second, the freshman standout came all the way back to win 12-10 in the third-set tiebreaker to give Bethel an important win.
 
Next on the schedule for the Royals is Northwestern whom they will play on Monday back at the Ona Orth Athletic Complex.  The action will begin at 4 p.m.