Women's tennis starts spring with double sweep

Augustana’s women’s tennis team swung into its spring season with its seventh consecutive No. 1 preseason ranking in the NSIC along with a No. 20 national ranking. After two tournaments in February, the team has claimed a 3-1 overall record. 

Most recently, the team took on No. 18 Missouri Western State University and the University of Sioux Falls at Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls. 

The Vikings fell for the first time this spring against Missouri Western, earning a team score of 3-4. The following day, the Vikings played the University of Sioux Falls and claimed a clean sweep of 7-0. 

The two Vikings who came out on top against Missouri Western were sophomore Senem Ocal against senior Anais Peralta Criado (6-4, 6-4) and graduate student Aleksandra Kistanova against senior Isabella MacGibbon (6-4, 6-3). 

“We have some big non-conference matches that we know about, that are very important for the end of the year seeding at regionals,” head coach Marc Kurtz said. “[The team] knows those matches are extremely important and that sets us up for the end of the season.”

For the doubles teams, partners senior Florentia Hadjigeorgiou and Kistanova won 6-4 and Ocal and freshman Smilte Bakyte won 6-4. 

“I think Smilte and I have a really good chemistry on and off the court since we're also friends,” Ocal said. “We both know how we're playing, managing each other well and communicating. Even if we make mistakes, we're there for each other and it's what helps us grow.”

With the opening of the spring season on Feb. 2-3 in Kearney, Nebraska, the women’s team completed a double sweep against Newman University and the Metropolitan State University of Denver. 

“It was good to finally get some competition after practicing for so long,” Kurtz said. “I thought the girls played well, and we have high expectations this year and high goals. Overall, I was proud of the effort they gave and excited about the results.” 

The Vikings scored 7-0 against MSU Denver.

Hadjigeorgiou fell to MSU Denver’s senior Emily Hafner at ITA Regionals this past fall, but she earned revenge at the February tournament by defeating Hafner (6-3, 6-3).

“Playing against MSU Denver and Newman were definitely not easy first matches, even though the scores seemed easy,” Hadjigeorgiou said. “However, we were ready to compete at a high level since we practiced very hard for it. It is a great feeling to start the season with some good wins, which will for sure count towards our national rankings.”

Hadjigeorgiou later played doubles with Kistanova and defeated MSU Denver with a score of 6-4. 

Kistanova won her singles match (6-2, 6-3), and Ocal also defeated her opponent, MSU Denver sophomore Kim Heddes (6-2, 6-1). 

“My team was pretty solid and we were able to compete in our matches well,” Ocal said. “After a long time of not playing together as a team, we managed it really well. Everyone was able to do what they needed to do and we were helping each other.” 

Ocal also played a doubles match with Bakyte and won 6-2. 

The only Viking athlete to prevent an MSU Denver player from earning points was senior Margarita Chouliara against sophomore Kambra Roles scoring (6-0, 6-0). 

“We have eight very strong players,” Kurtz said. “We’re just a very solid team all the way up and down the lineup. We have a lot of depth, I think, more depth than we’ve had in previous years. So, that’s a good problem to have. We always have someone that’s available and ready to go.” 

Against Newman, the women’s team kept its strength at full volume to bring home another win of 4-0.

Ocal had a tiebreaker in her first set (7-6) then gained a lead in the second set with a win (5-1). Her and Bakyte also earned a doubles win with a score of (6-2). 

Hadjigeorgiou fought hard, clinching a win with a tiebreaker in the first set, 7-6, then preventing her opponent, junior Dana Issabayeva, from getting close again with a win of 6-1 in the second set. 

Hadjigeorgiou and Kistanova later defeated Newman’s doubles team (6-2). 

“When we find difficulties during the matches, we always try to support [and] motivate each other. Even if we are down in the score, we overcome our frustration with some positive talking to each other and always try to come back,” Hadjigeorgiou said. “It is really easy to lose your patience and get frustrated in a tennis match since little mistakes cost. When things get difficult, me and [Kistanova] always try to make the least amount of errors possible, which sets up the focus to the initial goal.”

Hadjigeorgiou earned NSIC player of the week on Feb. 13 after going 2-0 in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in the team’s first spring tournament.

The Vikings will return to the court on Feb. 23 against Bemidji State University at Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls.