Ohio Northern outlasts Mount Union 5-1 in semifinals of OAC Women's Tennis Tournament

Katie Gibbs

By Tim Glon

| Box Score | Tournament Site |

MASON -- No. 1 seed Ohio Northern outlasted No. 4 seed Mount Union 5-1 Friday afternoon and evening in the semifinals of the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Tournament at the Lindner Tennis Center.

The Polar Bears (19-5) advance to the finals on Saturday at 2 pm at the Lindner Tennis Center. ONU will face the winner of Friday evening's other semifinal match between Baldwin-Wallace and Otterbein.

Mount Union ends its season with a 15-7 record.

The match started at 4:55 pm, nearly two hours late, due to a rain delay and a pair of long matches in the Men's OAC Tournament semifinals earlier in the day.

Rain forced the stoppage of play at 6:08 pm and the match was moved to the Queen City Racquet Club in nearby Cincinnati. Play resumed after a 54-minute delay.

Northern scored the first team point of the match when Bridget Larson and Kaitlyn Macdonald defeated  Leslie Douglas and Mary-Catherine Beck 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Northernwent up 2-0 when Jacqueline Sammon and Liz Bajusz won 8-3 at No. 1 doubles over Kacey Huff and Kristina Hallett.

ONU completed the sweep of the doubles play as Jacki Hillis and Katie Gibbs defeated Mari Miki and Tara Biedenbach 8-6 at No. 3 doubles just ahead of a downpour. 

The singles matches were held at the Queen City Racquet Club after a 54-minute delay.

Macdonald gave Northern a 4-0 advantage with a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles over Huff.

Mount Union got its first point when Beck topped Larson 7-5, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Katie Gibbs notched the final point, coming from behind to defeat Michelle Miller 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, ending the match that lasted  three hours and 10 minutes.