First Serve
The Augustana College women's tennis team (7-1, 4-0 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition traveling to Bemidji, Minn. this weekend for two more NSIC matches. The Vikings will match-up with Minnesota Crookston (0-6, 0-4 NSIC) on Saturday, Feb. 28 with a start time of 5 p.m., followed by Bemidji State (0-5, 0-4 NSIC) on Sunday, March 1 at 9 a.m.

Scouting the Competition
For six consecutive years, Augustana has defeated Minnesota Crookston by the score of 9-0. The Eagles enter the match on Saturday with a 0-6 record and a 0-4 mark in the NSIC. UMC was last in action traveling to Duluth, Minn. taking on St. Cloud State on Feb. 21 losing in a sweep match. Minnesota Crookston then took on host Minnesota Duluth and Gustavus Adolphus losing both matches 7-2 to close out the weekend. The Eagles will take on Sioux Falls at 1 p.m., followed by matching up against the Vikings at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Augustana will face off against the Beavers on Sunday, March 1 after dominating Bemidji State by a score of 9-0 for the past five seasons. BSU enters the weekend with a 0-5 record and 0-4 in the NSIC but will match-up against Sioux Falls on Saturday at 9 a.m. before competiting against the Vikings.

Vikings ranked No. 5 in ITA Central Region rankings
The women's tennis team moved up one spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region rankings, coming in at the No. 5 spot. Richards (No. 10) and Olivo were both ranked in the ITA Central Region singles rankings released on Nov. 3 as the top Viking doubles pairing, Richards and Olivo are ranked fourth in the Central Region according to the ITA. The next set of singles and doubles region rankings will be released in a month. The Vikings are the only team in the rankings from the NSIC, placing in the top five of the Central Region rankings with a 5-1 start to the season. Southwest Baptist comes in at first, while Northeastern State University placed second. Northwest Missouri State tabbed third, while Arkansas Tech and Augustana took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Postal earns Augustana's second straight NSIC Tennis Player of the Week honors
For the second consecutive week, an Augustana women's tennis player was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tennis Player of the Week with junior Sydney Postal earning the honor released from the conference on Tuesday. A native of Llano, Calif., Postal helped lead the Vikings to a 2-0 weekend improving to 4-0 in NSIC play with a 9-0 sweep over U-Mary, followed by an 8-1 win over MSU Moorhead. Postal and Jessa Richards remain undefeated in doubles play with a shutout victory with a score of 8-0 over the Marauders' Meredith Holt and Eileen Leong at the No. 1 spot. Postal helped secure the win for Augustana with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Holt at the No. 2 singles spot.

In the second match of the day, the Vikings would compete against MSU Moorhead. The Dragons entered the match with an undefeated record of 3-0 in the NSIC. Postal and Richards again cruised in the No. 1 doubles match, notching their seventh straight victory with an 8-0 win over MSUM's Sammie Smith and Cassie Smith. Postal ended the weekend with a 4-0 record, winning 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 spot over Sammie Smith, who was named NSIC Tennis Player of the Week on Feb. 10. This marks the first time this season Postal has been named NSIC Tennis Player of the Week and third for Augustana this year. Richards earned the accolades on Feb. 3 and Feb. 18.

Lawerence improves to 7-0 in singles
Meredith Lawrence remains undefeated in singles with a 5-0 record. Lawrence had a shutout victory at the No. 4 singles over Jennifer Heywood 6-0, 6-0 of Nebraska Wesleyan on Feb. 1 where the Vikings shut out the Prairie Wolves, 9-0. Lawrence then defeated Yamini Reddy of USD at the No. 6 singles 6-0, 6-4, to put momentum back on Augustana's side, but the Vikings would come up short to the Coyotes losing 6-3. Lawrence then defeated over MSU-Billings Mary Conwell with a score of 7-5, 6-1. The match against Jamee Hale of Western Illinois went unfinished, followed by a shutout victory over Andrea Erdman of Minnesota State with a score of 6-0, 6-0. Lawrence stays perfect in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over SMSU's Katie Kienitz. Lawrenece then put the finishing touches on the victory blanking Kate O'Connell 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 6 singles, followed by a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Cassie Smith to improve to 7-0 in singles competition.

Leading the charge
In his seventh season as the head of the Vikings women's tennis program, Marc Kurtz has established his team as the elite squad in the conference as well as picking up a host of awards for himself. Kurtz has been named the NSIC coach of the year four times in the past five years while leading his teams to a 126-28 record. In NSIC matches, Kurtz owns a 66-3 record and has won the NSIC regular-season team title in five consecutive years. Under Kurtz's direction, Augustana has won the past four NSIC tournament titles and have 22 All-NSIC singles honorees and 13 doubles pairings.

Second Serve
The Vikings will welcome the University of Sioux Falls on Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. and Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday, March 7 with the time still to be determined. Both matches will be played at Woodlake Athletic Club.