ORLANDO, FLA. -- With five wins in singles, the University of Sioux Falls Tennis Team (6-4) earned a 5-2 win over Shippensburg (0-5) and a split of the two matches today in Orlando, Fla. The Cougars lost earlier, 9-0, to Saginaw Valley State. Through three matches in Florida, USF stands 2-1.
"I am really proud of the way we played in very hot conditions today," said USF Head Coach
Kevin Grebin, whose team will face Division I Seton Hall at 11 am on Wednesday, March 9. "I feel that we really battled against a tough Saginaw Valley State team and then we had some young players in their first matches step up in the win over Shippensburg. I was pleased with the effort today and look forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow against a DI team," he said.
Through 10 matches, USF has a 30-27 record in singles play including 13-8 in nonconference matchups. In doubles, USF has a 17-13 mark with a 6-6 record in nonconference action.
Match 1 – Saginaw Valley State 7 USF 0
USF dropped the opening match against Saginaw Valley State, 7-0, despite close matchups in several singles matches. Due to the weather, the teams played eight-game pro-sets. At No. 1 singles,
Megan Quandt dropped an 9-8 (7-2) decision to Sara Neves in a tiebreaker. At No. 2,
Talia Janos also dropped a close call in an 8-6 decision to Emma Charlton. At No. 3 singles,
Danielle Thorfinnson fell to Elizabeth Stuart, 8-4 while
Joelle Thorfinnson lost, 8-2 to Nicole Johnson at No. 4 singles.
Emily Thinnsen lost to Joanna Gao, 8-2 while
Katelyn Nesheim was defeated, 8-4, by Alexis Anthes.
USF was swept in doubles as Chelsea Dzenga/Andrea Teofilovic earned a 6-2 win over Quandt/Janos at No. 1. USF's No. 2 doubles team of D. Thorfinnson/J. Thorfinnson lost to Gao/Johnson, 6-2, while Thinnsen/Nesheim fell to Stuart/Adiya Young, 6-4.
Match 2 – Sioux Falls 5 Shippensburg 2
In the second match of the day,
Annika Randt won her second straight singles match and
Ella Schmidt,
Brianna Holm,
Emily Applegate,
Peyton Forney also picked up wins in singles competition as USF earned its sixth win of the season in a 5-2 verdict over Shippensburg.
Forney moved to 2-1 on the season with her first win of her career at No. 1 singles as she took a 6-3, 6-2 verdict over Islam Sahar. At No. 2 singles,
Emily Applegate picked up her first win of the season with a 6-3, 6-3 decision of Brighid Cantell of Shippensburg.
Freshman
Brianna Holm earned her first career win by playing at No. 3 singles and earning a straight set win of 6-3, 6-1 over Kendall Winters. Then,
Annika Randt earned a second straight win in singles with a 6-1, 6-2 decision of Cally Papoutsis at No. 4. Another freshman,
Ella Schmidt, won her first match at USF with a 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 win over Brooklyn Rupert at No. 5. USF"s
Rhianna Cantine dropped a 6-0, 6-4 decision to Kayla Tryanski in the No. 6 singles match up.
Shippensburg picked up the doubles point with two wins in the three matches. However, USF's No. 1 team of Forney/Applegate prevailed, 7-5, over Merel Hoekstra/Sahar Islam. However, Shippensburg won at No. 2 as Jenna Sluymer/Jasmin Petrantonio defeated Holm/Randt, 7-5. At No. 3 doules, Cantine/Schmidt fell to Winters/Rupert, 6-3.
