GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota women's tennis team kicked off home court action with a strong 5-2 over Marquette on Friday morning at Choice Health & Fitness.
 
UND turned things up early while cruising to a 1-0 lead courtesy of back-to-back doubles victories. Alva Norberg and Linn Svaerd teamed up for a 6-3 win from the middle court before the top duo of Ethel Li and Jule Schulte collected a 6-4 win to clinch the opening 1-0 advantage. The tandem of Simone Cameron and Alyssa Giupponi went unfinished in their match but held the 5-4 lead.
 
In singles action, Giupponi lit it up at the No. 4 spot and dominated 6-0 and 6-2 for the opening win. Marquette tightened up the match and closed in at 2-1 after a victory from the No. 5 court before Ethel Li nabbed the 6-3, 6-3 win from the top spot. Schulte emerged victoriously after a gritty second set battle at the No. 2 position (6-1, 7-5) that clinched the win for the Fighting Hawks.
 
The final point for UND came at the No. 3 spot via Norberg's coordinated 6-3, 6-3 victory.
 
In her debut for North Dakota, freshmen Simone Cameron secured a hard-fought 7-6 win in the first set from the bottom spot but soon dropped the second set and fell 10-7 in a tightly-contested super tiebreak.
 
North Dakota will be back in action on Sunday morning with a 10:30 a.m. face-off against Montana State inside Choice Health & Fitness.

For more information on North Dakota women's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDwtennis.