The University of Sioux Falls women's tennis team bounced back from a disappointing loss to MSU Moorhead by trouncing the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs, 9-0, at Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D.
The win improves USF to 6-9 (3-6 NSIC), while the Mustangs tumbled to 3-13 and 1-7 in the league loop.
"We got one day better today," said head coach Kevin Grebin. "Coming off a very disappointing loss to MSU Moorhead definitely could have presented some challenges, so I'm very proud of the way the team came out and took care of business.”
The Cougars and the Mustangs started out with doubles play, where Karlee Sieve and Emily Erickson quickly put USF up 1-0 with an 8-1 victory against Lindsey Brace/Kayla Uphus on court two.
The freshman tandem of Kara Bunkers and Abby Seigenthaler followed with an 8-6 win in third flight that extended their No. 3 doubles winning streak to eight matches in a row.
Joey Bosch and Stacey Beard then worked for a narrow 9-8, 1-0 (14-12) victory at No. 1 to give USF a commanding 3-0 lead heading into singles action.
"A big part of our doubles is the way we serve and on the days we struggle to serve doubles will be tough," said Grebin. "On the days that we execute we can beat anyone in doubles."
USF went on to sweep all six singles matches. Bosch battled back from a 6-3 loss in set one to take set two 6-1 from SMSU's Crystal Overbaugh and force the third-set tiebreak. Bosch edged her sophomore opponent 10-6 in the tiebreak to earn her sixth singles victory of the season.
The Cougars took the other five matches in straight sets, with Molly Seigenthaler (No. 4), junior Morgan DeLange (No. 5) and senior Sieve (No. 6) combining to drop just three games on the lower three courts.
The Cougars slid down to eighth place in the overall NSIC standings with this weekend's split versus MSU-Moorhead and SMSU. The top eight teams will qualify for the NSIC tournament.
USF will wrap up the NSIC regular season next weekend in Grand Forks (N.D.). The Cougars will face Minnesota Crookston (4-10, 1-9) on Friday afternoon and close out the weekend Saturday morning against Bemidji State (6-6, 3-5).
Singles competition
1. Bosch, Joey (SF) def. Overbaugh, Crystal (SMSU) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
2. Beard, Stacey (SF) def. Kienitz,Katie (SMSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Erickson, Emily (SF) def. Brace, Lindsey (SMSU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Seigenthaler, Molly (SF) def. Monahan, Shelby (SMSU) 6-1, 6-0
5. DeLange, Morgan (SF) def. Ritter, Samantha (SMSU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Sieve, Karlee (SF) def. Nelson, Michaela (SMSU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Bosch, Joey/Beard, Stacey (SF) def. Overbaugh, Crystal/Kienitz,Katie (SMSU) 9-8, 1-0 (14-12)
2. Sieve, Karlee/Erickson, Emily (SF) def. Brace, Lindsey/Uphus, Kayla (SMSU) 8-1
3. Bunkers, Kara/Seigenthaler, Abby (SF) def. Monahan, Shelby/Ritter, Samantha (SMSU) 8-6
