Junior Bridget Noack led the St. Thomas women’s tennis team to a 5-4 win over defending MIAC champion Carleton Saturday at the St. Paul Academy tennis courts.

The Tommies (14-1 overall, 7-0 MIAC) earned the No. 1 ranking in the MIAC preseason poll, but the Knights (11-2 overall, 7-1 MIAC) have been a conference powerhouse for the last three decades and hadn’t lost to a D-III opponent yet this season. The two teams will likely meet again in the postseason, and Noack said matches like Saturday’s would prepare the Tommies well for a future matchup with the Knights.

“Our team has been working hard over the past three years, and we’ve been getting better and better, so if there is any time to do it, it’s now,” Noack said.

Sophomore Lauren Williams credited the team’s success to its upperclassmen leaders.

“The leaders are amazing. They do a lot to help us out. We have a group text going 24/7. Nobody ever gets left out of anything,” Williams said. “The leadership is phenomenal.”

On Saturday, the usual suspects did most of the work for the Tommies.

Noack teamed up with senior Kara Lefsrud in the first doubles match and battled out a win over the Knights’ top pairing. Junior Shelby Henderson and freshman Jenna Czarnecki also grinded out a victory in second doubles. Freshmen Caitlyn Bakke and Jenna Zimmerman dropped third doubles, but the Tommies escaped with a 2-1 lead.

After dropping her first set in first singles against Kayla Becich 4-6, Henderson fought hard to get back into the match and take the second set 6-3. However, Becich took the match after winning a marathon third set 13-11.

Noack kept things rolling in second singles with a dominant win in straight sets to give the Tommies another crucial point in the match. Noack said she benefited from playing talented opponents over the team’s trip to Florida last week.

“Over spring break, I had some tough matches that I ended up winning,” Noack said. “It helps me back here playing conference matches knowing I can beat someone who is tough competition.”

Lefsrud and Czarnecki both dropped their singles matches, while Zimmerman won her match in straight sets to give St. Thomas, at the time, its second win in singles.

After Carleton fought back to win three of the first five singles matches, it all came down to one of the Tommies’ talented freshman. Bakke prevailed in a back and forth match that went to a decisive third set that Bakke won 10-8. Bakke’s victory gave the Tommies the 5-4 win over the Knights.

The Tommies improved to 14-1 on the season and remain undefeated in the conference.

“Sometimes we don’t always get the acknowledgement we deserve, so it would mean a lot for us to win the MIAC this season,” Noack said.

After ousting Carleton, St. Thomas can win the MIAC outright with three more wins. The Tommies will travel to Bethel and St. Olaf before hosting Gustavus on April 25 to end the regular season.

Travis Swan can be reached at swan9954@stthomas.edu.