GRAND FORKS, N.D. – It all came down to the final match in Saturday afternoon's women's tennis contest between North Dakota and Omaha, but it would be the visitors that narrowly defeated the Fighting Hawks, 4-3, inside Choice Health and Fitness.
The loss ended UND's nine-match winning streak and drops the team to 12-8 overall with a 3-1 conference showing while the Mavericks move to 13-8 and 3-0.
Doubles play served as a preview of the action to come during the day's match as a pair of gritty performances pushed the home team ahead 1-0. The tandem of
Andrea Pineda and
Alva Norberg cruised to a dominating 6-1 win from the middle court to kick things off before a marquee match at the top position really kicked off. Despite falling behind at 1-4,
Ethel Li and
Jule Schulte rallied to take the next five games and clinch a 6-4 win.
With the 1-0 lead now officially in favor of North Dakota, the final doubles match went unfinished at the bottom court with
Alyssa Giupponi and
Emma Roberts locked in an all-out 5-5 battle.
Omaha, though, came storming back. The visitors collected a 6-3, 6-2 win from the top position to tie things up before an electric 6-1, 6-4 showing from Giupponi at the No. 5 court helped UND regain the lead. The next two matches—at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots—went in favor of the Mavericks in hard-fought fashion with a pair of 7-5, 6-3 and 7-6 (2), 6-4 wins, respectively.
The Fighting Hawks fired back from the No. 6 court to tie things up off a thrilling performance from Roberts. Despite a 3-6 first-set loss, the freshman found her rhythm in the second set to collect a 6-3 win and force a third set. That momentum helped Roberts dominate her way to a 6-0 win to tie the team score up at 3-3.
All eyes turned to the No. 2 position, where Schulte was lodged in a gritty contest. But despite her all-out effort, the senior fell 7-5, 6-4 as Omaha secured the 4-3 defeat of the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota women's tennis returns to the road for the final time in the regular season to take on Denver in a 12 p.m. conference contest on Saturday, April 11.
For more information on North Dakota women's tennis, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media
@UNDwtennis.
