Augustana University Athletics

MATCH SCORES

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Augustana women's tennis showed off their No. 41 ranking for the second time this weekend as they took down central region counterpart Nebraska-Kearney by a 6-3 margin. The Vikings remain unbeaten with a 9-0 record while the Lopers are handed their first loss, falling to 4-1.
 
Augustana tripped to central Nebraska with hopes of improving their regional standings as they faced two top-seven opponents in Northwest Missouri State yesterday and Nebraska-Kearney today. The Vikings dispatched region No. 6 NWMSU 8-0 for their seventh shutout of the season then headed home with a 6-3 win over UNK, who owns the No. 7 ranking in the central region.
 
The top matchups featured several Vikings ranked in the top of the ITA Central Region fall rankings. Beginning with No. 1 doubles, both pairings rank top six and each teams' top two singles players rank among the 20 best in the region.
 
"Knowing the importance of this match, we had to play well in the doubles matches," head coach Marc Kurtz said. "We definitely came out hard in the first three matches, winning two of three to set us up well for singles play."
 
Katie Jesperson and Jessa Richards showed why they were given the No. 2 ranking in the region as they took down the sixth-ranked pairing 8-4. Augustana's second-flight doubles squad of Heather Sullivan and Christine Olivo nearly made it a 2-0 start for the Vikings, the No. 2 UNK tandem fought off a match point and came away with a 9-7 win.
 
Jenna Helleberg and Meredith Lawrence then gave Augustana a 2-1 margin after doubles competition concluded with a 9-8 (7-3) win in the No. 3 doubles match.
 
The top four singles players from each team then took the court and Augustana looked to capitalize on their slight lead.
 
"Our singles players all fought hard," Kurtz said. "Four of the singles matches went three sets, showing how tough the competition was, but they battled and won four to earn a key victory."
 
Jesperson gained region notoriety last season when she defeated UNK's Vanessa Gunawan who owned the No. 2 ranking at the time. Ranked No. 5, Jesperson lived up to her billing, taking down 11th-ranked Gunawan in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
 
Francesca Beg suffered her first loss of the season at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 7-5, drawing the Lopers within one point at 3-2 in the team score. Olivo then gave the Vikings a two point advantage with her three-set win at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, bringing the, one win closer to a team victory.
 
Richards jumped into last season's rankings when she defeated Kristin Weems of Nebraska-Kearney and she showed why she held an even higher ranking this season. The Eden Prairie, Minn. native edged 19th-ranked Weems in a first-set tiebreaker before Weems evened the match in the second. With a late break, No. 15 Richards secured both her and the team's ninth win of the season, taking the No. 2 singles match 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5.
 
Not going down without making some noise, UNK took the No. 5 singles match. Jenna Helleberg suffered her first loss of the season, falling 7-5, 6-3.
 
The Vikings added on one more win to arrive at the 6-3 team victory. Lawrence won her ninth consecutive set 6-0 to open the No. 6 singles match, but her opponent edged her in the second set by way of a tiebreaker. Lawrence then closed the door on her opponent winning a super tiebreaker for the 6-0, 6-7 (8-10), 10-5 win.
 
The Vikings' scenery may improve when they head to Puerto Rico for their spring-break trip, but their competition will only stiffen. From March 10-14, Augustana takes on four Division I opponents in five of their scheduled matches.