SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's tennis team opens its 2019-20 spring slate Friday with a dual at Missouri Western. The weekend continues with a match with Arkansas Tech on Saturday and concludes with Newman on Sunday. All three duals will take place in St. Joseph, Missouri, at Genesis Health Club.
 
The Vikings open their dual season as 10-peat NSIC Champions and return the NSIC Freshman of the Year in Laura Arce Vieyra. In all, the Vikings return three All-NSIC singles selections and four all-NSIC doubles selections.
 
The Competition
Missouri Western and Newman are both members of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Missouri Western tallied a 9-13 overall record in dual action a season ago while Newman, then a member of the Heartland Conference, tallied a 13-13 record. Arkansas Tech belongs to the Great American Conference (GAC) and recorded 12 wins against seven losses.
 
The Vikings last competed against Missouri Western in a dual format on Feb. 2, 2018, claiming a 5-1 victory. That same day, Augie also competed with Newman, falling 5-4 for one of its three nonconference losses in 2017-18.
 
The Vikings
Augustana's returning all-conference singles performers include Taylor Jackson and Grace Goble along with Arce Vieyra. The returning doubles student-athletes earning All-NSIC accolades are Anca Rusu, Arce Vieyra, Jackson and Goble.
 
In fall tournament action, Arce Vieyra captured the Augustana Invite 'A' Singles Championship while Jackson claimed the Flight 'B' singles consolation championship. Rebecca Falkner claimed the 'D' singles championship while Goble and Rusu claimed the flight 'B' doubles title.
 
Quotable
"We're excited to get going," head coach Marc Kurtz said. "We've been practicing for a few weeks and we finally get a chance to kick things off. We're looking forward to it.
 
Up Next
Following the nonconference start to the spring season, Augustana jumps into NSIC action on Saturday, Feb. 8, hosting Minnesota Crookston at 7 p.m. The following day, the Vikings host Bemidji State at 9 a.m. Both events take place at GreatLIFE Woodlake Club in Sioux Falls.