GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota women's tennis put on quite the showing on home court Friday evening, collecting numerous gritty performances enroute to a 5-2 defeat of Creighton inside Choice Health & Fitness.
"I thought we came out extremely focused and determined at the start of both doubles AND singles today," said head coach
Tom Boysen. "That's a good recipe for success and if you want to beat a team as talented, tough and well-coached as Creighton, you better be ready to compete with discipline from the first point."
It all began in doubles play, where the duo of
Alva Norberg and
Andrea Pineda struck first with a dominating 6-1 victory from the middle court. After dropping a close 6-3 contest at the No. 3 position, North Dakota bounced back with a 6-3 win of its own. This one came off the hands of
Ethel Li and
Jule Schulte to clinch the doubles point and put the home team ahead 1-0
One-on-one competition began in fiery fashion as Schulte went electric from the No. 2 position and collected her 6-0, 6-2 win. Pineda followed close behind from the third spot with a 6-3, 6-4 hard-fought victory of her own before Norberg clinched the team win with a 7-5, 6-2 win at court No. 4.
Creighton responded with a near-marathon win at the No. 5 position that saw
Alyssa Giupponi nearly pull off the comeback. She fell 6-3 in the first set before rallying for the 7-6 (7-2) second set win. But the ensuing super tiebreak would end in favor of the visitors at 1-0 (10-6).
Emma Roberts, though, got revenge in the same style. She dropped a tight-knit 7-6 first set before collecting a convincing 6-2 second set to force another super tiebreak that soon saw her walk away with the 1-0 (10-8) win. Competition ended at the No. 1 court when Li fell in a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 comeback win for Creighton, but the Fighting Hawks were already victorious.
"I thought we did a good job taking Creighton's punch halfway through singles, settling ourselves down and playing confident down the stretch," siad Boysen. "It was great to have our full lineup in there today and it should help our confidence as we approach conference matches to beat a team like Creighton for the first time in many years."
North Dakota women's tennis will be back in action to conclude the weekend on home court with Sunday morning match against Minnesota Crookston at 10:30 a.m. inside Choice Health & Fitness.
For more information on North Dakota women's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media
@UNDwtennis.
