MINNETONKA, Minn. (Lifetime Fitness and Tennis Center) -- The Bemidji State Tennis Team defeated Minnesota Duluth, 5-3, Saturday to advance to the NSIC Tournament semifinal match. Tomorrow BSU will face defending league champion and top seed Augustana University at 8 a.m.

BSU opened the match with an 8-5 victory from its No. 1 doubles pair of Zoë Lindgren and Auriadna Lopez-Simo, but dropped matches at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.

Despite trailing the Bulldogs 2-1 after doubles play; the Beavers battled back to get wins in four singles matches to secure the league postseason win with Breann Walsh on the verge of winner her No. 5 singles match 6-3, 7-6.

Lindgren and Lopez-Simo rattled off straight-sets wins in the No.1 and No. 2 singles matches, 7-5, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-4, respectively. Hannah Alme picked up a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles and freshman Hannah Peterson posted a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the No. 6 hole to put the match out of reach for the Bulldogs and give the Beavers a 5-3 victory.

The Beavers advance to the semifinal round to face Augie, which won its 100th consecutive versus NSIC competition, 5-0 over the University of Mary, to move on to the second round. In the only meeting between the teams this season, the Vikings dropped the Beavers, 9-0, Feb. 25 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The winner of the BSU/AU match will face the winner between Minnesota State University, Moorhead and Winona State University in the NSIC Tournament championship.

The winner of the single-elimination tournament will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Central Region Tournament April 28-29, where it will join the league tournament champions from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the Great American Conference along with the three highest ranked teams that were defeated in their respective league tournaments. Two teams from each of the eight regions will advance to the final site, which will be played May 8-11 at Surprise Tennis Complex in Surprise, Arizona.

For more information on the Bemidji State women’s tennis program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Multimedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooded region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

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