Despite hopes for a good couple of days in Iowa, the USD women’s tennis team was unable to get the victories they were searching for.
The team traveled to Iowa this past weekend, competing in two pairs of dual matches in Cedar Falls and Sioux City.
At Cedar Falls Saturday, they dropped a pair of duals, losing to Northern Illinois, 7-0 and Northern Iowa, 7-0.
USD now has a record of 4-7 and is still playing without its top athlete, Shadi Soleymani, who is out with an injury.
In the match versus Northern Illinois, USD battled tough at No. 2 doubles, where freshman Marina Kiefer and sophomore Isabel Nunez fought hard before losing 8-5.
Kiefer also had lost a tough 6-3, 6-3 decision at number one to Kathryn Friedlund, while Nunez battled tough at number four singles before losing 6-3, 6-1 to Sara McLaughlin.
“We had competitive sets, but Northern Illinois is a good team,” USD head coach Malcolm Gilreath said. “It was good experience for the ladies.”
Nunez and Kiefer also had a competitive doubles match against UNI before losing 8-4. Senior Rijalda Zejnic and junior Janea Hagen had a good match at No. 3 doubles before falling 8-3.
Freshman Brittney Smith came close in the first set at No. 5 singles for USD before dropping a 6-4, 6-0 decision to UNI’s Stefannia Sampaio.
“Some of the sets were competitive,” Gilreath said. “We played a lot of points. As we continue to get more experience, we become more competitive. We’ll continue to work on our games.”
Following that disappointing start to the weekend the Coyotes looked to improve on their performances Sunday, Feb. 28, but the dual meet against Western Illinois was another loss for the team.
Western Illinois defeated the Coyote women 6-1 in Sioux City.
Zejnic recorded a straight-set win at No. 3 singles, but that wasn’t enough to overcome a series of tough losses in number three doubles and number six singles. The doubles loss was taken as far as a tiebreaker, as as Zejnic and freshman Kelsi Foster fought Kate Kennedy and Unzicker before losing 9-8 (7-4 tiebreaker).
Zejnic recorded a 6-3, 7-6 (9-7 tiebreaker) win over Amy Unzicker at No. 3 singles to account for USD’s point in the match.
At No. 6 singles, USD freshman Brittney Smith battled Kennedy in a fierce match-up before losing 6-3, 7-5.
Nunez then took on Jill Furlong in a heated competition at No. 4 singles before falling, 6-4, 6-2.
“It was closely contested,” Gilreath said. “It shows the progress we’ve made.”
USD’s next action is set for Monday, March 8 in Orlando, Fla., against Martin Methodist College. That game is part of a string of five meets USD has scheduled over spring break.
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