St. Cloud State Tennis Returns Home for Two Conference Matches

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Tennis (4-6, 2-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) will return home for the final time this season to host Sioux Falls (8-7, 4-3 NSIC) on Friday, April 12 and then Augustana (13-3, 7-0 NSIC) on Sunday, April 14. Friday's match will be played at 4:30 p.m. while Sunday's match is set 12:30 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Sta-Fit Tennis Center in Sartell, Minn.

Senior Day
Sunday's match against Augustana will serve as Senior Day for St. Cloud State. Seniors Maria Molitor (Delano, Minn.) and Mamiko Yamaguchi (Tokyo, Japan) will be honored before the match.

Molitor has played in 61 matches during her tenure at St. Cloud State and holds a record of 37-24 overall. In her career, the Delano native has produced a 17-8 record in singles and a 20-16 record in doubles. This season, Molitor has a 4-1 record in singles play and a 5-1 doubles record. Earlier in the year, Molitor was the recipient of the Myles Brand Award which is bestowed to senior student athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher. Last season, Molitor was named to the Academic All-NSIC Team, NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence, and the CSC Academic All-District.

After transferring from Rikkyo University in Japan, Yamaguchi is in the midst of her first season at St. Cloud State. Despite not appearing in a match this season, Yamaguchi has shown mounds of support for her teammates throughout the year. Yamaguchi has brought joy and energy to the team while radiating positivity which spreads throughout the course of a match. Her dedication to the program and contributions as a teammate have not gone unnoticed in her lone season with the Huskies.

Last Time Out
The Huskies returned to action this past weekend as they traveled to Duluth, Minn. to take on Minnesota Duluth. St. Cloud State got off to a fast start after winning all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Molitor and sophomore Oriana Grott (Warsaw, Poland) remained perfect as a duo with a 6-2 victory in the No. 3 spot as they moved their record to 3-0. Junior Claudia Muñoz Perez (Tarragona, Spain) and freshman Brooklyn Broadwell (Thief River Falls, Minn.) secured the point for the Huskies with a 6-3 victory in the No. 2 position. The junior duo of Maria Paz Aoki (Marcos Paz, Argentina) and Johana Brower (Sioux Falls, S.D.) completed the sweep in the doubles round with a 7-5 win over Shay Callaway and Abby Johnson in the No. 1 spot. The win gave Paz Aoki and Brower their sixth victory as a duo, the most on the team this season.

Heading into singles play in need of three points to win the match, Grott gave the Huskies the first of those points with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory in the No. 4 spot. Brower put SCSU up 3-0 as she cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win in the No. 3 spot. Duluth would set the score at 3-2 after winning the next two matches, but Molitor clinched the win for St. Cloud State with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Brynne Folden in the No. 6 spot. Broadwell recorded her fifth win of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the No. 5 spot as the Huskies defeated the Bulldogs 5-2, snapping their four-match losing streak.

Results- St. Cloud State 5, Minnesota Duluth 2
Doubles

Maria Paz Aoki & Johana Brower (SCSU) def. Shay Callaway & Abby Johnson (UMD): 7-5
Claudia Muñoz Perez & Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU) def. Lilly Nelson & Brynne Folden (UMD): 6-3
Maria Molitor & Oriana Grott (SCSU) def. Olivia Honsey & Courtney Eppen (UMD): 6-2

Singles

Shay Callaway (UMD) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 7(7)-6(4), 6-3
Abby Johnson (UMD) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 7(7)-6(2), 6-2
Johana Brower (SCSU) def. Carly Chaney (UMD): 6-1, 6-1
Oriana Grott (SCSU) def. Olivia Honsey (UMD): 6-0, 6-0
Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU) def. Lilly Nelson (UMD): 6-2, 6-3
Maria Molitor (SCSU) def. Brynne Folden (UMD): 6-2, 6-2

Series History
Friday's match against Sioux Falls will be the 20^th all-time match between the programs with the Huskies holding an 11-8 advantage. The Cougars have won six of the past seven matches against SCSU including their meeting in the NSIC Tournament last season.

USF jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the first two doubles matches. The Cougars grew their lead to 2-0 after a win in the No. 6 spot. Brower gave the Huskies their first point with a 6-0, 6-2 win in the No. 5 spot. Sioux Falls went on to clinch the match after two straight set victories in the No. 4 and No. 3 spots as they advanced to the second round of the NSIC Tournament.

Results- Sioux Falls 4, St. Cloud State 1
Doubles

Talia Janos & Danielle Thorfinnson (USF) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez & Johana Brower (SCSU): 6-4
Sydney Osburn & Ella Hancock (USF) def. Maria Paz Aoki & Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-0
Emily Thinnsen & Emma Rangel (USF) vs Olivia Fredrickson & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 5-4 unfinished

Singles

Talia Janos (USF) vs. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 unfinished
Danielle Thorfinnson (USF) vs. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 1-6, 6-0, 2-1 unfinished
Sydney Osburn (USF) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-3, 6-3
Ella Hancock (USF) def. Arisa Kashima (SCSU): 6-2, 6-3
Johana Brower (SCSU) def. Emily Thinnsen (USF): 6-0, 6-2
Katelyn Nesheim (USF) def. Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-0, 6-2

Sunday's match against Augustana will be the 45^th match between the teams with St. Cloud State holding a 27-17 advantage. Despite success in the series, SCSU has lost 15 consecutive matches to the Vikings including their lone matchup last season.

Augustana secured the doubles point after winning the first two matches. Despite the loss of the point, Paz Aoki and Grott defeated Senem Ocal and Emily Granson 7-5 in the No. 2 spot. Heading into singles play with a 1-0 lead, the Vikings made quick work of the Huskies by winning all six singles matches in straight sets. St. Cloud State did not score more than two points in any set during singles play as Augustana won the match 7-0.

Results- Augustana 7, St. Cloud State 0
Doubles

Florentia Hadjigeorgiou & Aleksandra Kistanova (AU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez & Johana Brower (SCSU): 6-1
Maria Paz Aoki & Oriana Grott (SCSU) def. Senem Ocal & Emily Granson (AU): 7-5
Laura Arce Vieyra & Gabriela Jancikova (AU) def. Olivia Fredrickson & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-0

Singles

Florentia Hadjigeorgiou (AU) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-2, 6-2
Senem Ocal (AU) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-1, 6-0
Aleksandra Kistanova (AU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-2, 6-0
Laura Arce Vieyra (AU) def. Arisa Kashima (SCSU): 6-1, 6-0
Margarita Chouliara (AU) def. Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-2, 6-0
Gabriela Jancikova (AU) def. Olivia Fredrickson (SCSU): 6-0, 6-1

Scouting Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls comes into this match with an 8-7 overall record and a 4-3 conference record as they sit in 5th place in the NSIC standings. After losing three of their past four matches, the Cougars got back on track with a pair of conference wins against MSU Moorhead and UMary this past weekend.

In singles play, Sioux Falls has won 42 of their 90 total matches to give them a .467 winning percentage. Three Cougars have won seven matches including sophomore Ella Hancock, sophomore Sydney Osburn, and freshman Chloe Siegfort. Hancock has a 7-5 record overall with a 6-4 record in the No. 5 position. Osburn and Siegfort both have 7-6 records, but Osburn has a 6-5 record in the No. 4 spot while Siegfort has a 7-5 record in the No. 2 spot.

Hancock and Osburn have been the top duo for the Cougars in doubles as they have produced a 7-6 record in the No. 2 position. Seigfort and senior Talia Jones are the second winningest duo on the team with a 4-9 record while playing in the No. 1 spot. The duo has a 4-3 record in conference play this season.

Kevin Grebin enters his 13th season as the head coach of Sioux Falls. During his tenure, Grebin has a record of 101-99 and has led the Cougars to three NSIC Tournament Semifinals appearances and has qualified for the tournament in four consecutive seasons.

Scouting Augustana
The NSIC powerhouse Augustana Vikings have continued their run of success with a 13-3 overall record and a perfect 7-0 conference record. The Vikings are currently placed 1st in the conference standings and are ranked 26th in Division II. Augustana has won 165 consecutive NSIC matches which dates back to 2009. All of Augustana's conference victories this season have come by a score of 7-0.

In singles play, the Vikings have been dominant with a 68-17 record, an .800 winning percentage. Five different Vikings have won 10 or more matches with sophomore Senem Ocal producing a team-high 13 wins. Graduate student Aleksandra Kistanova and junior Gabriela Jancikova both have 11 wins while senior Florentia Hadjigeorgiou and freshman Mia Garcia both have a 10-3 record. Augustana has not lost a singles match in a conference match this season as they hold a 41-0 record.

In doubles, Augustana is just as well-rounded with three duos producing 10 wins. Hadjigeorgiou and Kistanova are the top duo for the Vikings with a 10-4 record in the No. 1 spot. In 20 conference doubles matches this season, Augustana has an 18-2 record.

Marc Kurtz enters his 16th season as the head coach of Augustana. During his tenure, Kurtz has guided the Vikings to a 307-58 record and has led them to 12 consecutive NSIC Tournament Championships. Under Kurtz, Augustana has finished first in the conference for 13 consecutive seasons and has only lost more than four matches six times under his lead.

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