DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Augustana women's tennis team opened up fall competition last weekend competing at the Drake Invite in Des Moines, Iowa. Although team results weren't kept, several Vikings had notable performances.
"This was a good tournament for us to get the season going," head coach Marc Kurtz said. "We only had two practices this week before we competed so I was happy to see that we played well against strong competition with limited practices.
"The fall is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at and what we need to work on as the year moves along."
Coach Kurtz was particularly impressed with the play of sophomore Margarita Chouliara.
"Chouliara won her flight and had an excellent tournament. In the final, she played very solid and stayed composed against a strong opponent.
"The first set of Chouliara's final match took over two hours and I was happy to see that she kept fighting the entire match and most importantly stayed mentally tough during difficult situations."
The Vikings have a break in competition before returning to action at the Creighton Invite in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sept. 24 and 25.
"We have time now to rest up and get some good practice in before we go to Omaha in a few weeks."
Choulaira, a sophomore, highlighted the competition from the Vikings by claiming victory in the fourth flight.
Chouliara bested Lucia Rizza of North Dakota on Friday afternoon, taking the match in 6-3, 6-3 fashion. In the quarterfinals on Saturday morning, she bested Yana Gaskell of Drake, winning 6-2, 6-2.
Later in the day, Chouliara competed in the semifinals facing stiff competition in Anna Marija Bukina of South Dakota, ultimately defeating her 7-5, 6-4, 10-6 to give Chouliara a spot in the flight four final.
Chouliara was challenged once again in the flight four championships, facing North Dakota's Nore Heinitz, but conclusively won the flight four-section, 7-6(4), 1-6, 10-6.
Another highlight in the competition was freshman Gabriela Jancikova earning her first collegiate win against Andrijana Brkic of the University of Northern Iowa.
Overall, the Vikings accumulated 11 wins over Division I competition coming against South Dakota, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, University of Nebraska, Omaha, and Drake.
--GoAugie.com--
