SIOUX FALLS S.D.- Augustana women's tennis (11-1, 6-0 NSIC) travels to Florida this weekend for their spring break trip. The Vikings will take on George Fox and Connecticut College on Sunday at 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and will compete against Eckerd College on Tuesday March 22, at 2 p.m. and Florida Southern on March 23 at 2 p.m.

Scouting the competition
George Fox comes in with a 5-4 record on the season. The Bruins went 1-2 over the weekend defeating Pacific Lutheran 9-0 and losing to Lewis & Clark 9-0 and Southwestern (Texas) 7-2. George Fox will take on Springfield and the University of Scranton before their match against Augustana. The Bruins are led by Sarah Tuemmler who owns a 5-3 record on the season at No. 1 singles. George Fox is led in singles by Taylor Barnes and Ellen Pearson. Barnes holds a 6-3 record in singles including a 4-1 mark at No. 3 singles. Pearson owns a 7-2 singles mark along with going 5-1 in No. 4 singles. The main doubles team for the Bruins are Ali Diehl and Andrea Motley which holds a 5-3 record in No. 3 doubles.  

Connecticut College comes in with a 1-1 record on the year. The Camels won their previous match against Franklin & Marshall 6-3. Connecticut College will take on Rensselaer, Washburn and Hillsborough Community College before their dual against Augustana. The Camels are led by Charlotte Marcoux who enters this weekend with a 2-0 records in singles duals winning both of her matches in straight sets. Marcoux and her doubles partner Aleksandra Drljaca are currently 1-1 on the year.   

Eckerd College starts the weekend with a 1-6 record on the year. The Tritons are on a five-match losing streak and lost to Florida Institute of Technology 9-0 last weekend. Eckerd will take on California Lutheran University and Merrimack College before their match against Augustana. The team is led by Emily Fridrik who holds a 3-4 record at No. 1 singles this season. The Tritons are struggling in doubles competition as all three of their doubles teams have a 1-6 record or worse on the season.

Florida Southern comes in with a 5-3 record on the year.  The Mocs took down Bluefield State this past weekend 9-0. Florida Southern will take on West Florida and the University of Tampa before their match-up against Augustana. The Mocs are led by Selin Devrimci who comes in with a 5-2 record on the year, including going 4-1 in No. 2 singles. Lorena Rionda is a big contributor for Florida Southern with a 6-2 record in single duals this year. Natalija Popovic is currently on a seven-match winning streak in singles competition. The main doubles team will be Sasha Nionova and Linnea Skymberg who have posted a 4-1 record at No. 1 doubles.

Augustana get two victories in Emporia

Last weekend Augustana women's tennis traveled to Emporia, Kan. and went 2-0, defeating Emporia State and East Central by the score of 8-1.

On Saturday, Augustana swept the singles portion of the dual starting with Jessa Richards who defeated Tawni Griffey 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 in No. 1 singles. Kornelia Staniszewska improved to 7-0 in singles with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Kaley Clark in No. 2 singles. Sydney Postal defeated Sarah Durham in No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-3.

Berkley Darr won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 over Amy Fugit in No. 4 singles. Christine Olivo won a tough three-set match 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 in No. 5 singles. Meredith Lawrence improved to 9-0 in No. 6 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Kristen Fraley.

In doubles matches, Richards and Staniszewska defeated Clark and Durham 8-0 in No. 1 doubles.Kaitlyn Motley and Lawrence won their match in No. 3 doubles 8-2.
Emporia State won their lone match of the dual with a 8-6 victory in No. 2 doubles.

On Sunday, The No. 1 doubles team of Kornelia Staniszewska and Jessa Richards won their match over Julia Municoy and Gloria Mayorga 8-2. The duo is now on a 10-match winning streak.

Berkley Darr and Sydney Postal bounced back with an 8-3 victory over Alex Makashov and Anna Garcia in No. 2 doubles. Meredith Lawrence and Kaitlyn Motley completed the doubles sweep for the Vikings with an 8-2 win over Srijita Ghosh and Becca Richison.

In singles action, Staniszewska defeated Municoy in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 in No.1 singles. Richards improved to 9-2 on the year with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Garcia in No. 2 singles.

Postal was victorious in No. 3 singles over Makashov 6-3, 7-6. Darr won her match in No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-1 over Mayorga. Lawrence stays undefeated in singles duals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Veronica Mijares.

Richards named NSIC Player of the Week
For the second time this year and ninth in her career, Jessa Richards has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tennis Player of the Week in a release from the conference on Monday. Richards currently holds a 9-2 record in singles matches, going 6-1 in the No. 1 singles position. Teaming with her partner Kornelia Staniszewska the duo is 11-1 on the season and is on a 10-match winning streak.   

Rankings
Augustana moved up one spot to No. 48 in the latest NCAA Division II ITA Preseason Poll. Staniszewska and Richards are ranked No. 7 in the doubles bracket. The doubles pair are also ranked No. 1 in the central region. Staniszewska is ranked No. 7 in the singles division central region while Richards is at No. 12.

Leading the Charge
In his eighth season as head coach of the Augustana women's tennis program, Marc Kurtz has established his team as the elite squad in the conference and has picked up a host of awards for himself. Last year Kurtz earned his fifth NSIC coach of the year title in six years. He guided the Vikings to a 21-4 mark on the season including an 11-0 mark in the NSIC and a fifth straight conference championship.  

Second Serve
Augustana will have next weekend off but return April 2-3 as they start up NSIC competition again against Winona State and Upper Iowa.