Men’s and Women’s Tennis vs Wartburg College (Mar 6, 2021)

W 6-3 (M) and L 3-6 (W)

Two wins in doubles and four wins in singles matches secured the men’s tennis team their first win of the season on Saturday. The women’s team recorded three wins in the singles matches but fell to the much experienced Wartburg Knights. 

On the men’s side, senior Nazeer Robinson and first year Elijah Krause won the No. 1 spot in singles, and junior Tou Ger Xiong teamed up with first year Issac Hultberg to win the No. 2 spot. 

First year Sam Thompson won the No. 5 spot in singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win. First year Dom Warzecha took the No. 4 singles spot after a 7-6(in 4), 6-0 win. 

“The freshmen really came out and competed,” Robinson said. “I was very surprised at how ready they were [for competition].”

The women’s team also had three first-years win their matches. Lily Vang took the No. 4 singles spot, Jersi McAlpine won the No. 5 spot in three and Peyton Buerman won No. 6. 

First year Taylor Vyskocil and Vang played the No. 1 doubles spot and won four games but eventually lost 8–4. Junior Taylor Hopkins and McAlpine played in the No. 2 spot and fell to the Knights players as well. 

While the men have a hefty break before their next competition, the women play again in a little over a week. 

Softball vs Northland (Mar 9, 2021)

L 1-2 and W 9-1

Piper softball started their season strong, winning one of their two first games in last Tuesday’s double header against Northland. The first game remained scoreless for the first four innings but the Northland Jills ended up taking the game with one run in the seventh inning.

Though the score does not reflect it, there was lots of tough batting on Hamline’s side and the bases were loaded in both the second and sixth innings. 

The first run of the day for the Pipers was achieved in the seventh inning by both junior Theresa Klinnert with a triple and senior April Jacobs who singled to bring Klinnert home. However, the Jills had scored two runs at this point and were able to keep their lead. 

The second game proved much more successful for the Pipers, ending the game in five innings and finishing offensively aggressively and often. 

In the top of the first inning alone, four runs were scored. The bases were loaded immediately and four different hitters came home. The Jillys scored one run at the bottom of the inning to make the score 4–1, but this proved to be as good as Northland could do for this second game.

After two innings of play the Pipers had scored twice more, and in the third with two hits and an error, the score was up another two runs for Hamline. A home run from Klinnert gave the Pipers the eight-run lead that would hold out for the last inning and a half. The run-rule victory for the Pipers left a sweet taste in the mouth for the softball team’s first victory of the season. 

Women’s Lacrosse vs UW-La Crosse (Mar 10, 2021)

W 10-8

The Hamline women’s lacrosse team secured their first W in a road game against the UW-La Crosse Eagles. The Pipers got possession fast and early, and held it for the beginning of the first half.

At 11:30 to go in the first half, the Pipers were leading 3–0, with goals recorded from senior Maya Hernandez and sophomore Taryn Leonard, one a piece assisted by senior Ashley Hessler and the last by Leonard unassisted. 

Though the Eagles answered with three of their own goals after, senior Maria Lewis scored again swinging the momentum back to the Piper’s and ending the half at 4–3.

The second half started much like the first half did, with the Pipers scoring three goals early. UWL scored and the Pipers answered again. 

The Eagles turned on the heat at this point, putting up three more points and making the game 10–8 in the last five minutes. Piper’s defense held strong, however, and the women’s lacrosse team walked away with a win.