Jessa Richards went undefeated for the Vikings in the NCAA Central Region 2 Tournament Augustana hosted this past weekend. Keeping her unblemished record intact, Richards and No. 1 doubles partner Katie Jesperson recorded two wins to improve to 25-0 on the season. The top Viking tandem defeated Emporia State 8-5 in the semifinal match before they took down the region No. 7 pairing from Northeastern State 8-6 to keep the Vikings’ playoff hopes alive. In singles, Richards logged two key victories over tough opponents. The sophomore from Eden Prairie, Minn. downed her ESU opponent 6-4, 6-4 to earn the fifth point for Augustana in their 5-0 win over Emporia State. Richards showed off her No. 13 region ranking and took down 19th-ranked Houda Bellamine of Northeastern State 6-2, 6-1 to briefly give the Vikings a 3-2 that didn’t hold. On the season, Richards went 25-0 in doubles competition and 24-1 in singles competition with her only loss coming at the hands of a Division I opponent.
