MATCH ONE (SCSU) | MATCH TWO (BSU)
SARTELL, Minn. – Augustana remained perfect in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with two 9-0 wins over St. Cloud State and Bemidji State on Saturday. The Vikings move to 14-2 on the season with a 9-0 mark in the NSIC. St. Cloud State suffered their first conference loss at the hands of Augustana dropping them to 10-9 overall, 5-1 in the NSIC. Bemidji State remains winless with a 0-9 record overall, 0-8 in conference play.
Entering the St. Cloud State match, both teams were tied for first place in the NSIC standings with undefeated records. The Vikings changed that with a resounding 9-0 victory over the Huskies, including straight-set wins in all six singles matches.
Katie Jesperson opened the match with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles and
Jessa Richards followed with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 2.
Michelle Wadas won 6-2 , 6-1 at the third singles flight and
Hannah Gebauer tallied her second double-bagel win, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 4 singles.
Closing out the singles matches,
Heather Sullivan won 6-2, 6-1 and
Liz Lewis won 6-3, 6-2 at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.
The doubles matches were much more highly contested, but still fell in the Vikings' favor. Jesperson and Wadas won 8-5 at the top spot, Richards and Gebauer won 8-6 at No. 2, and Sullivan teamed with
Jenna Helleberg for an 8-3 win.
Augustana's second match of the day pitted the top and the bottom of the NSIC standings with the Vikings facing Bemidji State.
Jesperson was given the afternoon off by head coach
Marc Kurtz, sliding the next four singles players up one spot. Richards won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1, Wadas won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 and Gebauer and Sullivan each won by default at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively.
Helleberg played at No. 5, winning 6-1, 6-1 and
Liz Lewis earned a win by default with no BSU opponent at No. 6 singles. Richards and Gebauer played no. 1 singles and won 8-1. Sullivan and Helleberg blanked their opponents 8-0. Lewis and Wadas were awarded a win by default at No. 3.
The Vikings now close out the regular season with a three-match set in Fargo N.D. on April 6 and 7. Augustana will play MSU Moorhead on Friday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m. before facing Winona State and Northern State on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.
