Cougars Drop 5-4 Heartbreaker to Mary

The University of Sioux Falls women's tennis team dropped its first match of the day in heartbreaking fashion, falling to the University of Mary, 5-4, on Saturday morning afternoon at the Courts Plus indoor facility in Fargo, N.D.

The Cougars (4-7, 2-4 NSIC) saw three singles players and a doubles team earn wins over the Marauders, but the top of the lineup for Mary (5-4, 4-4) proved to be the difference, as did doubles play.

"NSIC wins are hard to come by," said USF head coach Kevin Grebin. "We played a very tough Mary team this morning and we were right there, it just came down to a couple of points.”

“We came up a little short in doubles this weekend, so we've got to get back on track,” he added. “I'd like to give credit to my players at the bottom of the lineup, especially Karlee Sieve, who had an outstanding match. “

“But we needed to get one more somewhere.”

The Cougars fell behind early, dropping two of three doubles points. Sieve and Julia Iversen earned an 8-3 win over Ashley Akers and Ashley Tuschlingat the No. 3 doubles spot for USF's first point of the match. But top-ranked Stacey Beard and Alison Kauss came up short against the Marauder tandem of Sarah Janes and Kate O'Connell, 9-7.

Molly Seigenthaler and Morgan DeLange dropped the match on court two to Hallie Welk and Rachael Scott, 8-5.

Mary would then move ahead 4-1 lwith wins on courts one and two. The Marauders' Janes knocked off Kauss at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-1. USF's Beard then fell to Welk on court two, 6-0, 6-1.

USF stormed back with three straight wins on the lower three courts. Seigenthaler cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Scott for her second win in a row. Sieve threw a bagel on Alexis Tatter and DeLange made it 4-4 with a win over Akers at the No. 6 singles spot, 6-3, 6-3.

It all came down to court three, where a battle between the Marauders' O'Connell and USF's Rachel Hussey went to a tiebreak. O'Connell moved ahead with a 6-3 win in set one, only to see Hussey bounce back to take set two 6-1. But O'Connell edged Hussey 10-7 in the tiebreak to win the match for Mary.

USF will face MSU-Moorhead (2-5, 2-4 NSIC) later today.

Singles competition
1. Janes, Sarah (MARY) def. Kauss, Alison (SF) 6-0, 6-1
2. Welk, Hallie (MARY) def. Beard, Stacey (SF) 6-0, 6-1
3. O'Connell, Kate (MARY) def. Hussey, Rachel (SF) 6-3, 1-6, 10-7
4. Seigenthaler, Molly (SF) def. Scott, Rachael (MARY) 6-1, 6-0
5. Sieve, Karlee (SF) def. Tatter, Alexis (MARY) 6-0, 6-0
6. DeLange, Morgan (SF) def. Akers, Ashley (MARY) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Janes, Sarah/O'Connell, Kate (MARY) def. Kauss, Alison/Beard, Stacey (SF) 9-7
2. Welk, Hallie/Scott, Rachael (MARY) def. Seigenthaler, Molly/DeLange, Morgan (SF) 8-5
3. Sieve, Karlee/Iversen, Julia (SF) def. Akers, Ashley/Tuschling, Ashley (MARY) 8-3

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Players Mentioned

Molly Seigenthaler: 5' 2"; Freshman

Rachel Hussey: Freshman

Julia Iversen: Freshman

Karlee Sieve: Freshman

Morgan DeLange: 5' 6"; Freshman

Stacey Beard: 5' 8"; Freshman

Alison Kauss: 5' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Molly Seigenthaler
: 5' 2"; Freshman

Rachel Hussey
: Freshman

Julia Iversen
: Freshman

Karlee Sieve
: Freshman

Morgan DeLange
: 5' 6"; Freshman

Stacey Beard
: 5' 8"; Freshman

Alison Kauss
: 5' 4"; Freshman