GAME NOTES - Upper Iowa || Winona State 

Thursday, April 24, 2014
NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release
NSIC Tennis Tournament Website
 

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NSIC Women's Tennis Tournament Set for This Weekend
The NSIC Women's Tennis Tournament will take place this Saturday and Sunday April 26-27 at the Lifetime Fitness in Minnetonka, Minn.  The single elimination tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the #2 seed, U-Mary playing the #7 seed Sioux Falls.  The first day of competition will continue at 11:30 a.m. when #3 St. Cloud State takes on #6 MSU Moorhead.  Then at 2 p.m., top seeded Augustana will take on #8 Minnesota State.  In the final match of the afternoon, #4 Upper Iowa will battle #5 Winona State.

For the Peacocks, who have won seven of their last eight matches, this will be the second meeting with Winona State over the past two weeks. UIU stole a 5-4 victory from the Warriors back on April 12 in Winona, Minnesota. The Peacocks posted two 9-8 victories in doubles play and a pair of third-set wins in singles action to outlast WSU, 5-4, and earn the fourth seed in the upcoming tournament (Click here to view the box score of that game). A day after defeating Winona State, the Peacocks earned the weekend sweep with a 6-3 finish against Southwest Minnesota State to finish conference play with an 8-3 record – the team's best finish since the 2011-2012 season (8-2).

Following the first round of action, the Tournament will continue on April 27 at 8 a.m. with both semifinal matches taking place simultaneously.  The winner of the SCSU/MSUM match will advance to play the winner of the Mary/USF match, while the winner of the Augustana/MSU match will play the winner of the UIU/WSU match.  The NSIC championship match will then be played at noon on April 27.

The winner of the NSIC Women's Tennis Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.  The NCAA DII Central Region Tournament will take place on campuses on May 3-6.  The NCAA DII Championships (Final 16) will take place on May 14-17 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The NCAA Women's Tennis Selection Show will air on www.NCAA.com on 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29.

See below for each team's notes.
 

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AUGUSTANA
Augustana enters the postseason on a 12-match winning streak and try will be looking for their fourth straight NSIC Tournament title. The Vikings cruised through the NSIC regular season for their fifth consecutive NSIC championship. Augustana is currently ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Central Region an led by two regionally ranked singles players in fourth-ranked Katie Jesperson and No. 15 Jessa Richards. The Jesperson/Richards doubles pairing is ranked No. 2 in the region and finished the 2014 regular season with a 20-0 record. Augustana opens the NSIC Tournament against Minnesota State on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Vikings won this season's only matchup by a 9-0 margin on Feb. 15.
 
BEMIDJI STATE
The Bemidji State finished its 2014 regular season 8-8 overall. The Beavers' eight-win total under second year Head Coach Mark Fodness was a seven-win improvement over 2013 and marks the team highest win total in more than 12 years.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY
The University of Mary tennis team was idle last week as they prepared for the Northern Sun Women's Tennis Tournament. Coming off of their best season in program history since joining NCAA Division II in 2007, U-Mary finished the regular season with the second best record in the Northern Sun at 10-1. With their only conference loss coming to Augustana, who has won over 50 consecutive NSIC matches, the Marauders secured the No. 2 for the NSIC tournament. U-Mary will open the tournament with seventh seeded Sioux Falls on April 26 at 9 a.m.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
The Minnesota Crookston showed improvement throughout the 2014 season, picking up a conference win over University of Minnesota Duluth and improving their win total from the 2013 season, as they finished with a 4-12 overall record.

MINNESOTA DULUTH
Minnesota Duluth drew the curtain on the 2014 season with a  1-11 overall and 1-10 in NSIC record. The season's end marked the end of the collegiate line of UMD's lone senior, Kelsey Cunningham, who was relegated to mainly doubles play this spring because of a nagging shoulder injury.

MINNESOTA STATE
The Mavericks will take on Augustana in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament Saturday in Minnetonka, Minn. The dual is slated to begin at 2 p.m. The Mavericks finished their regular season with a 5-16 record, including a 4-7 record in NSIC action. With its 4-7 NSIC record, MSU earned the eighth seed in the eight-team NSIC Tournament. No. 30 Augustana finished its season with a 21-1 record, including an 11-0 conference record, en route to claiming its fifth straight NSIC regular-season championship. In their previous meeting this season, the Vikings swept the Mavericks, 9-0, in Bismarck, N.D. Should the Mavericks defeat the Vikings, they would take on the winner of the dual between Upper Iowa and Winona State on Sunday, April 27, at 8 a.m., with the championship round set to follow at 12 p.m.
 
MSU MOORHEAD
The MSUM women's tennis team will compete in the NSIC tournament starting on Saturday in Minnetonka, Minn.  The sixth-seeded Dragons, competing in the tournament for the first time since 2012, will face St. Cloud State on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Lifetime Fitness Oakdale in Minnetonka.  Sophomore Ashley Wood has a 9-7 mark in singles for MSUM while freshman Jessamy Jones is 8-8. In doubles, Rebecca Lukes, Cassie Smith and Wood are all 6-9 for MSUM (6-10, 5-6 NSIC).

SIOUX FALLS
The University of Sioux Falls women's tennis team fell on Tuesday to NCAA Division I University of South Dakota Coyotes, 7-0, in non-conference play at the USD tennis courts in Vermillion, S.D. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 8-10 overall, while the Coyotes improve to 9-11. USD swept the doubles point to jump ahead for a 1-0 lead. Michelle Elkin and Milica Pavlovic won 8-1 versus Karlee Sieve and Emily Erickson on court two to clinch the point for the Coyotes. In singles play, Sieve had the most competitive match at No. 6, losing the first set 7-6 (7-5) to Nina Barudzic before falling 6-0 in the second frame. Pavlovic clinched the match for USD winning at the No. 2 position in a hard fought point-for-point match against USF's Stacey Beard, 6-0, 6-2. Although the match was already decided, Erickson battled well at the No. 3 singles position against Yuliya Sidenko, falling 6-2, 6-0. The Cougars will travel to Orange City on April 23 to square off against their old NAIA/GPAC rival Northwestern College. The 2014 NSIC tournament will be held April 26-27 in Minnetonka, Minn.
 
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
The Southwest Minnesota State women's tennis team wrapped up the 2014 regular season and finished the season 3-16 overall and 1-10 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

ST. CLOUD STATE
The St. Cloud State women's tennis team will open play at the 2014 NSIC championships on April 26 with a first round match against Minnesota State, Moorhead.  The Huskies enter the tournament with a 12-12 overall record and ended regular season play in the always rugged NSIC with a 9-2 record (third place).  SCSU is led at first singles this season by senior Katie Kotschevar, who owns a 12-12 record.  SCSU wrapped up its regular season on April 12 with an 8-1 win over Minnesota Duluth and a 9-0 loss to host Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D.  Of note, the Huskies have not finished below the .500 mark since posting a 5-8 overall record in 1985.

UPPER IOWA
The Upper Iowa women's tennis team's playoff fate wasn't decided until the final week of the regular season. UIU was guaranteed a playoff spot, but a sweep in the final weekend of the regular season helped UIU clinch a fourth-seed in the upcoming NSIC  Women's Tennis Tournament.  The Peacocks entered that weekend having won five of their last six matches and used that momentum to their advantage as the team posted wins over Winona State (5-4) and Southwest Minnesota State (6-3) to finish conference play with an 8-3 record – the team's best finish since the 2011-2012 season (8-2). UIU, which has battled injuries and has played with just five players for the past two months, will look to enter the tournament with a full and healthy roster. The team will need it after it's tightly-contested win in the regular season over the Warriors of Winona State – Upper Iowa's first-round opponent in the tournament. In that match, the Peacocks overcame two close battles in doubles play and two more three-set matches in singles action to earn the victory. UIU will once again take on the Warriors – the fifth seed – to open postseason competition. That match is scheduled for Saturday, April 26 at 4:30 p.m.

WINONA STATE
Jessica Urban, Sr., Lemont, Ill. (Lemont) finished her regular season in solid fashion, posting a 4-0 record in Warrior wins over Wisconsin-La Crosse and Luther. Urban won both her singles matches in straight sets, claiming a 6-3, 6-1 victory over UW-La Crosse and a matching 6-3, 6-1 win against Luther. She also teamed with Hannah Potter to post a 9-7 win over UW-La Crosse and 8-2 victory over Luther in doubles play. The Warriors are the fifth seed in the NSIC Tournament and will take on Upper Iowa on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Past Players of the Week
2/4/14    Iris Verweij - Upper Iowa
2/11/14    Jessa Richards - Augustana
2/17/14     Katie Jesperson - Augustana
2/25/14    Iris Verweij - Upper Iowa (2)
3/3/14       Jessa Richards - Augustana (2)
3/11/14    Not selected
3/18/14    Katie Jesperson - Augustana (2)
3/24/14     Saki Kawabata - Upper Iowa
3/31/14    Hallie Welk - University of Mary
4/7/14    Sarah Janes - University of Mary
4/15/15   Katie Jesperson - Augustana (3)