SIOUX FALLS – For the sixth time in seven seasons, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Tennis Team (7-5, 7-4 NSIC) has earned a berth and will compete in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championships, which will be held at Huether Family Match Pointe on April 23-25.

The Cougars, which were picked fifth in the NSIC preseason coaches poll, finished sixth in the league at 7-4 and earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament. They will face the No. 3 seed MSU Moorhead (8-3, 8-3) at 11:30 am on Friday. The winner advances to face the winner of the No. 2 Winona State vs No. 7 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 8 am. The semifinal round winners will face off in the championship on Sunday at noon.

The Cougars finished 7-4 for the third straight year with the exception of 2020 when the pandemic ended the season early and no championship event was held.  USF also advanced to the NSIC semifinals in 2016 by earning a 5-3 decision over St. Cloud State in another No. 6 vs No. 3 match up. In that 2016 tourney, USF lost to Upper Iowa, 5-1, in the semifinals. In 2018, the No. 6 USF squad fell to No. 3 Minnesota Moorhead, 5-1. USF did not qualify in 2017.

All NSIC Championship match start times are subject to change if earlier matches run long. No matches will begin early than the announced start time. 

The Cougars, which have won four of the past five NSIC matches, opened the season by falling to DI South Dakota, 7-1. On Feb. 3, the Cougars dropped a 5-2 decision at Winona State, in a match which USF battled the Warriors, picked third in the NSIC Preseason Coaches poll and the No. 2 seed in the championships, throughout the contest. USF then went on to defeat Minnesota Duluth 5-2 on Feb. 20 in the Cougar's home opener, and defeated SCSU 4-3 on Feb. 21. In the 5-2 decision over Minnesota-Duluth, USF picked up its first win of the season. The Cougars dropped a 7-0 decision to Augustana on Sun., Feb. 28 at GreatLife-Woodlake. USF defeated a previously undefeated MSU Moorhead team, 5-2, in Bismarck, ND on March 27. The next day, the Cougars battled hard all day, but ended up dropping a 4-3 decision to UMary on March 28 in Bismarck, ND. In their most recent set of matches, the Cougars defeated Bemidji St., 4-3, in Grand Forks, N.D., on April 9. USF also recorded a a dominating 7-0 over Minnesota Crookston later that same day. Last weekend, the Cougars fell to SMSU, 4-3, and defeated Upper Iowa, 7-0 to conclude the regular season.
Overall this season, USF is 40-32 in singles, and stand 40-26 in NSIC competition. In doubles, USF is 19-17, and 19-14 in the NSIC. As USF heads into the tournament, Rachel Klatt at No. 6 singles has a five-match winning streak. Joelle Thorfinnson is one of eight USF players with a winning record including senior Victoria Ambrosio, Cueto at 5-0 overall and 5-0 in the NSIC. Klatt stands at 6-6 overall and 6-5 in league play. USF's top singles record is Joelle Thorfinnson at 7-3, 7-2 in the NSIC, who has played from No. 3 to No. 6. The top doubles record is held by Klatt at 7-3 while Janos is 5-4 and Forney, 4-2. Also Joelle Thorfinnson is 6-6 overall with Danielle Thorfinnson at 4-5 and Quandt is 5-6. Miller is 2-6 while Applegate and Cantine stand 1-0 and Ambrosio-Cueto is 1-2.

Player Records – Singles
No. 1 Megan Quandt, 4-7 overall, 4-6 NSIC
No. 2 Talia Janos, 3-6 overall, 3-5 NSIC
No. 3 Lexi Miller, 6-6 overall, 6-5 NSIC
No. 4 Danielle Thorfinnson, 5-4 overall, 5-3 NSIC
No. 5 Joelle Thorfinnson, 7-3 overall, 7-2 NSIC
No. 6 Rachel Klatt, 6-6 overall, 6-5 NSIC

Others –
Victoria Ambrosio-Cueto, 5-0 overall, 5-0 NSIC (3-0 at No. 6)
Emily Applegate, 1-0, 1-0 NSIC
Rhianna Cantine, 1-0, 1-0 NSIC

Doubles Teams
Talia Janos/Megan Quandt, 4-3 overall, 4-2 NSIC
Danielle Thorfinnson/Joelle Thorfinnson, 2-3 overall, 2-2 NSIC
Victoria Ambrosio-Cueto/Lexi Miller, 0-2 overall and 0-1 NSIC
Rachel Klatt/Lexi Miller, 1-2 overall, 1-2 NSIC
Rachel Klatt/Joelle Thorfinnson, 3-0 overall, 3-0 NSIC
Peyton Forney/Lexi Miller, 1-2 overall, 1-2 NSIC
Megan Quandt/Joelle Thorfinnson, 1-3 overall, 1-3 NSIC
Rachel Klatt/Danielle Thorfinnson, 1-1 overall, 1-1 NSIC
Talia Janos/Danielle Thorfinnson, 1-1 overall, 1-1 NSIC
Peyton Forney/Rachel Klatt, 2-0 overall, 2-0 NSIC
Emily Applegate/Peyton Forney, 1-0 overall, 1-0 NSIC
Victoria Ambrosio-Cueto/Rhianna Cantine, 1-0 overall, 1-0 NSIC