MATCH SCORES
MINNETONKA, Minn. - Augustana continued its path to a fourth consecutive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament championship with a 5-1 win over fifth-seeded Winona State on Sunday morning. The Vikings (23-1) now take on the winner of No. 2 U-Mary and No. 3 St. Cloud State in the final with a scheduled start at 12 p.m. and a shot at an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Championships on May 3-5.
Augustana extends its winning streak to 14 matches with its second straight 5-1 win in the conference tournament. Again, the Vikings took two of the three doubles contests with Winona State (11-12) winning the No. 2 doubles contest.
The Vikings hopped out to a 2-0 lead with
Jenna Helleberg and
Meredith Lawrence supplying the opening win at No. 3 doubles.
Katie Jesperson and
Jessa Richards pushed their lead one more with an 8-0 victory over the ninth-ranked doubles pairing in the Central Region.
Christine Olivo and
Heather Sullivan weren't as fortunate as they suffered their second consecutive 8-5 loss at No. 2 doubles.
With their 2-1 lead entering singles play, the Vikings were quick to dash the upset hopes of Winona State. The top-seeded Vikings showed off their regionally-ranked singles players in Jesperson and Richards. Third-ranked Jesperson cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win in the top singles match and No. 13-ranked Richards came away with a 6-1, 6-3 win.
With the Vikings up in every singles match, it was a race to see who would supply the match-deciding win. At No. 6 singles, Lawrence earned that win and pushed the Vikings to the NSIC finals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
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