The Upper Iowa University women's tennis team wrapped up their regular season in Sioux Falls, S.D. against No. 20 Augustana University. UIU got wins at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles, but AUGIE claimed the 6-1 win. The Peacocks finish the season with a 9-7 record and clinch the sixth spot in the NSIC standings heading into the NSIC Tournament with a 6-5 conference mark. The Vikings improve upon their NSIC-leading mark of 17-1 (10-0 NSIC).
RECAP... Augustana clinched the doubles point with a 6-0 win over
Padmasree Murugan and
Elaina Wall in the No. 3 match before a 6-2 victory over
Varvara Ogorodnikova and
Lina Ziani in the No. 1 spot. The Peacocks picked up a win in the No. 2 doubles spot to conclude the doubles contests.
Charalampia Grammatikaki and
Jessa Michieli came out on top after a back-and-forth battle that required a tiebreaker to decide the winner. The Peacock pair won 7-6 thanks to a 7-3 edge in the tiebreak, but the Vikings led 1-0 in the team dual through doubles competition.
Augustana clinched the dual with three consecutive singles wins. Michieli was forced to retire in the No. 3 singles match after going down 2-1, while Ogorodnikova retired from the No. 2 singles match after being down 6-2, 4-2. The Vikings clinched the dual with their fourth point after a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ziani in the No. 4 match.
Grammatikaki earned a point for the Peacocks and closed her inaugural intercollegiate campaign with a dramatic three-set victory in the No. 1 singles spot. The freshman secured a 6-4 win in set one, before falling 6-4 in set two. Grammatikaki earned the hard-fought win after coming back in the third set, coming out on top, 14-12, in the tightly contested tiebreak.
The Vikings closed the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Wall in No. 6 singles and a 6-2, 6-1 win over Murugan in the No. 5 spot to clinch the 6-1 team win.
COACH'S QUOTE... "Today we played a very strong Augustana team and we competed well against them. We did not get the doubles point, but were able to pick up a great win at N2 double. In singles, we were able to pick up one point with a win at N1. Chara (Grammatikaki) played a fantastic match in a back and forth battle against a very strong opponent. For the rest of the singles, some of our players had to retire due to injuries, but everybody competed well and showed a great fighting spirit. Now the next stop is the conference tournament in two weeks. We will soon find out our opponent, and we are looking forward to the challenge. Go Peacocks!" - Head Coach, Léo Millet
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa will participate in the opening round of the 2022 NSIC Women's Tennis Tournament on Friday, Apr. 22. The NSIC Tournament will include the conference's top eight teams facing off in Sioux Falls, S.D. from Apr. 22-24. The tournament will take place at the Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls. The conference tournament is a dual format with three (3) doubles and six (6) singles matches. Friday, Apr. 22, will consist of four quarter-final matches. Saturday, Apr. 23, will consist of two semi-final matches played concurrently. Sunday, Apr. 24, will consist of the championship match. Matches will be pulled once a team has reached four (4) points.
RESULTS...
Augustana 6, Upper Iowa 1
Singles competition
1. Grammatikaki, Chara (UIU) def. Monko, Valeriya (AUGIE) 6-4, 4-6, 14-12
2. Hadjigeorgiou, Flore (AUGIE) def. Ogorodnikova, Varvara (UIU) 6-2, 4-2 (Ret.)
3. Arce Vieyra, Laura (AUGIE) def. Michieli, Jessa (UIU) 2-1 (Ret.)
4. Kistanova, Aleksandra (AUGIE) def. Ziani, Lina (UIU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Jancikova, Gabriela (AUGIE) def. Murugan, Padmasree (UIU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Chouliara, Margarita (AUGIE) def. Wall, Elaina (UIU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Hadjigeorgiou, Flore / Kistanova, Aleksandra (AUGIE) def. Ogorodnikova, Varvara / Ziani, Lina (UIU) 6-2
2. Grammatikaki, Chara / Michieli, Jessa (UIU) def. Granson, Emily / Monko, Valeriya (AUGIE) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Arce Vieyra, Laura / Jancikova, Gabriela (AUGIE) def. Murugan, Padmasree / Wall, Elaina (UIU) 6-0
