Match Results: USF 5, Minnesota State 4
It was a battle from start to finish in both doubles and singles, but a crucial victory at No. 2 singles set up senior Molly Seigenthaler for a dramatic win at No. 4 as a true team effort lifted the University of Sioux Falls tennis team (5-6, 2-3 NSIC) over Minnesota State Mankato (2-13), 5-4, at Sioux Empire Fitness on Thursday night.
“Obviously, it's always a great feeling to win a match as close as this one was,” said head coach Kevin Grebin. “I'm very proud of the way the team competed. It was a great win for us.”
The win is USF's first against historically strong Maverick tennis program. MSU shut-out the Cougars 9-0 in each of the past two seasons.
“This was a must-win for us in terms of keeping in the running for a spot in the conference tournament,” said Grebin. “I think we started a little slow in doubles, but the ladies really picked each other up in singles play, which was huge.”
He added, “Hats off to Molly for clinching the match; she played like a true veteran and did a great job under tight circumstances.”
In doubles play, the freshman tandem of Abby Seigenthaler and Kara Bunkers worked fast at No. 3 doubles with a dominant 8-4 win over MSU's Abby Schmidt and Alexis Haakedahl. Rachel Hussey and Emily Erickson led 5-4 at No. 2 doubles but fell victim to a vicious Maverick rally and were upended by Alexis Ronney and Melissa Mashburn, 8-6.
Stacey Beard and Molly Seigenthaler dropped a brutally close match in No. 1 doubles. The pair led 5-2 before MSU rallied to take two straight points and cut their deficit to 5-4. The sides split the next two games which pushed Beard and Seigenthaler to the brink of defeat. A big winner off Beard's racket tied the match at 6-all before MSU took the next game. Trailing 7-6 with Beard serving, the Cougars held serve to tie the match at 7-7 but the Mavericks answered by taking the next two points to claim the match 9-7 and give Minnesota State a 2-1 lead heading into singles action.
Karlee Sieve was the first player of the court, as she rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 against Abby Schmidt. MSU quickly regained the lead when Alexis Ronney defeated junior Morgan DeLange on court five, (6-2, 6-0).
Sophomore Joey Bosch, who played her freshman year at Minnesota State and sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, showed some early nerves against her former teammates and trailed 1-0 to Sarah McCann after putting a ball into the net. Bosch quickly regained her composure and rattled off six straight games, clinching the set 6-1 when McCann sent a return into the right doubles alley.
Bosch controlled the second set, moving her opponent around like a chess piece, luring McCann to the net before lobbing a ball over her head to take a 2-1 advantage. The lead was 4-1 for Bosch when her flustered opponent slammed a forehand long into the back wall and Bosch cruised to the straight sets win (6-1, 6-2).
Meanwhile, MSU's Shealyn Bakke turned aside Emily Erickson (6-2, 6-2) in third flight while Beard rallied from a two-game deficit in set one to win in straight sets over Melissa Mashburn (7-5, 6-4) to tie the match at 4-4.
The match came down to the No. 4 singles slot. Seigenthaler trailed Alexis Haakedahl 4-3 in the opening set, but the fifth-year senior showed much more composure than her sophomore nemesis and fired back to take back-to-back games for a 5-4 advantage. The sides exchanged the next two games before Seigenthaler belted a forehand into the left corner of the baseline to claim the set 7-5.
With both teams lined up on the court beside her, the Roosevelt HS graduate led wire-to-wire in the second set and reeled off a 6-4 win to clinch the match for the Cougars.
The Cougars now hit the road for the rest of the month, traveling to Bismarck (N.D.) this weekend for matches against St. Cloud State and the University of Mary.
