Minnesota State’s tennis team earns first win

Minnesota State women’s tennis team bounced back with a 9-0 win against the Sioux Falls Cougars this weekend after losing to the Augustana Vikings 9-0 Saturday.

The evening competition started off with Augustana winning all three doubles matches, starting with sophomore Erin Streeter and senior Melissa Mashburn losing the first match 8-2. Senior Abby Schmidt and freshman Monkia Ryan finished the doubles matches with an 8-3 loss.

Augustana finished their sweep of the Mavericks winning all six singles matches. Ryan was the only Maverick to force a third set before falling to the Vikings’ Christine Olivo with the scores 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 [10-7].

“Even though we have been working really hard, after this weekend we realized that there are still things that we have to keep working on,” head coach Sofia Espana said of the team. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what the girls can accomplish.”

Minnesota State then went on to battle the Sioux Falls Cougars Sunday morning. The Mavericks came out of the gate strong, winning all three double matches against the Cougars. Mashburn and Streeter lead the charge winning 8-2 in the first doubles match, while senior Kelly Spielman and freshman Kelly Lechowski won the second match 8-4. Finally, Schmidt and Ryan finished the doubles matches with an 8-1 victory over USF’s Cortney McCans and Kelsie Sanders.

The Mavericks completed the sweep, winning all six of the singles matches to finish the day 9-0. Streeter started off the singles matches by sweeping Kylie Simons 6-2, 6-1 while Lechowski defeated Tianna Duda 6-2, 6-4. The third singles match was the only one to go to three sets with Mashburn eventually coming out with the win with final scores of 6-7 [2-7], 6-1, 1-0 [10-7]. Ryan completed the fourth singles match 6-2, 6-3 before junior Lisa Dobbelare won over Cougars Abby Seingenthaler 6-4, 6-1. Schmidt closed out the day with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over USF’s Marie Schmitz.

The weekend improves the Mavericks record to 1-2 for the season and 1-1 in the NSIC.

Last year’s matchup between the Winona State Warriors and the Minnesota State Mavericks came out on top with a 9-0 victory, while the Upper Iowa Peacocks defeated the Mavericks 7-2 in their 2016 matchup.

“I’m proud of the girls, they played very well and we are looking forward to the next couple matches,” Espana said.

The Mavericks’ tennis team is headed to Winona this weekend to take on the Warriors Friday at 7 p.m. and Upper Iowa Saturday.