MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The University of North Dakota women's tennis team defeated St. Thomas, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon to conclude a perfect weekend against Summit League foes.
With the win, UND remains in first place in the league standings and moves to 5-0 in Summit League play with two matches remaining. The Fighting Hawks, who have already clinched a spot in the postseason, also see their overall record move back to the .500 mark at 10-10.
"St. Thomas is a good team, and we knew they had been playing very well lately," said UND head coach Tom Boysen. "I thought the doubles point was crucial today, and all three of our teams came out very focused, energetic, and on point."
NoDak jumped in front, 1-0, with a pair of wins in doubles play, with
Jule Schulte and
Angela Georgieva starting it off at the bottom court with a 6-2 victory before
Sapir Sela and
Andrea Jansson clinched the early lead for the visitors from the No. 1 spot by a 6-2 score.
"Andrea and Nore did a terrific job starting strong and being in control of their matches from the onset," said Boysen. "Getting those points on the board quickly put a lot of pressure on St. Thomas."
Nore Heinitz, who moved to the No. 5 position in singles play over the last few weeks, continued her strong play at that spot, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory to extend the lead to 2-0. Jansson remained unbeaten in 1-on-1 play in conference action from the third court by a 6-0, 6-3 score to put the match in a clinching scenario.
After St. Thomas pulled the match to 3-2 with wins on the top and bottom courts, Schulte put the contest on ice with her ninth straight singles win, claiming the first set, 6-0, before winning the tiebreaker by a 6-1 score to seal the overall triumph for the green and white.
"As the team match got extremely close near the end, Jule played a composed, intelligent, high-level third set to clinch the win for us," said Boysen. "She showed a lot of grit today in winning her ninth straight singles match. This team is peaking at the right time. We are gaining confidence in ourselves and in each other with every victory."
North Dakota closes out the road portion of the season next Saturday at 2 p.m. against Kansas City.
