St. Cloud State Tennis Closes out Regular Season with Two Weekend Matches

Saturday, April 20

Mandan, N.D.

11:00 A.M.

St. Cloud State

Mary

Photo by: Isaac Bentrott

St. Cloud State Tennis Closes out Regular Season with Two Weekend Matches

4/18/2024 12:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Huskies to play UMary and MSU Moorhead

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Tennis (4-8, 2-5 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) close out their regular season this weekend as they face off against UMary (7-6, 6-2 NSIC) on Saturday, April 20 and MSU Moorhead (6-8, 3-5 NSIC) on Sunday, April 21. Saturday and Sunday's matches will both be played at 11:00 a.m. and will take place in North Dakota.

Last Time Out
St. Cloud State returned home for the final time this season as they took on Sioux Falls and Augustana.

The Huskies fell behind 1-0 against Sioux Falls on Friday after being defeated in two of the three doubles matches. The junior duo of Maria Paz Aoki (Marcos Paz, Argentina) and Johana Brower (Sioux Falls, S.D.) picked up the lone win for the Huskies as they defeated Talia Janos and Chloe Siegfort 7-5 in the No. 1 position. The victory marked the seventh of the season for the duo, the most of any duo on the team. The Cougars maintained their momentum into singles play and produced three straight set victories to clinch the match against the Huskies. Sophomore Oriana Grott (Warsaw, Poland) won the only singles match for SCSU as she captured a 1-6, 6-4, 7(7)-6(1) comeback victory in the No. 4 spot. Sioux Falls would go on to win the final two matches as they took down the Huskies 6-1.

Results- Sioux Falls 6, St. Cloud State 1
Doubles

Maria Paz Aoki & Johana Brower (USF) def. Talia Janos & Chloe Siegfort (USF): 7-5
Sydney Osburn & Ella Hancock (USF) def. Brooklyn Broadwell & Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU) 6-2
Daniella Thorfinnson & Alissa Thorfinnson (USF) def. Oriana Grott & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-2

Singles

Talia Janos (USF) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-4, 2-6, 4-6
Chloe Siegfort (USF) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-4, 6-3
Danielle Thorfinnson (USF) def. Johana Brower (SCSU): 6-3, 6-3
Oriana Grott (SCSU) def. Sydney Osburn (USF): 1-6, 6-4, 7(7)-6(1)
Ella Hancock (USF) def. Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU): 6-0, 6-2
Jaeyln Haler (USF) def. Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-3, 6-4

Sunday's match against Augustana served as senior day for the Huskies where Maria Molitor (Delano, Minn.) and Mamiko Yamaguchi (Tokyo, Japan) were honored before the match. The Vikings captured the doubles point after winning all three matches by 3+ points. Augustana made quick work of the Huskies in singles play by winning the first five matches in straight sets. Junior Claudia Muñoz Perez (Tarragona, Spain) battled back-and-forth with Florentia Hadjigeorgiou in the No. 1 position, but was ultimately defeated 7-5, 3-6, 5-10 as Augustana completed the 7-0 sweep of the Huskies.

Results Augustana 7, St. Cloud State 0
Doubles

Florentia Hadjigeorgiou & Aleksandra Kistanova (AU) def. Maria Paz Aoki & Johana Brower (SCSU): 6-3
Gabriela Jancikova & Simone Karaouza (AU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez & Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU): 6-2
Senem Ocal & Smilte Baktye (AU) def. Mamiko Yamaguchi & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-0

Singles

Florentia Hadjigeorgiou (AU) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 5-7, 6-3, 10-5
Senem Ocal (AU) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-1, 6-1
Mia Garcia (AU) def. Johana Brower (SCSU): 6-1, 6-3
Aleksandra Kistanova (AU) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-4, 6-2
Gabriela Jancikova (AU) def. Brooklyn Broadwell (SCSU): 6-1, 6-1
Margarita Chouliara (AU) def. Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-0, 6-0

Century Mark
After playing in four matches this weekend, Claudia Muñoz Perez became the 65th Husky to play in 100 career matches. Muñoz Perez has won 50 total matches in her tenure with the Huskies with 32 coming in singles and 18 in doubles. Her .650 winning percentage in singles play ranks just outside the top 20 on the all-time singles winning percentage in program history.

Postseason Push
With the NSIC Tournament set to take place in two weeks, St. Cloud State clinched a spot in the tournament after Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State lost both of their matches this weekend. St. Cloud State has now reached the NSIC Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Huskies are seeded eighth in the current NSIC standings with the top 8 teams qualifying for the tournament. SCSU can finish as high as seventh with a win over MSU Moorhead this weekend. The Dragons are the current seven seed with a 3-5 conference record, but the teams would swap places if the Huskies defeated the Dragons as SCSU would hold the tiebreaker. A loss against Moorhead would solidify the Huskies into eighth place and would set up a meeting with Augustana who clinched their 14^th consecutive NSIC Regular Season Title this weekend.

Series History
Saturday's match against UMary will be the 22^nd meeting between the teams with SCSU holding an 11-10 advantage. The Marauders have won the past six matches against the Huskies including their meeting last season.

UMary had a quick start to the match as they swept the Huskies in doubles play after winning all three matches by 3+ points. Moving into singles play, UMary came out victorious in four of the five matches as they defeated St. Cloud State 5-2. In the No. 5 spot, Brower took down Samantha Purpura 6-0, 6-0 to give SCSU one of their two points. Molitor captured the second point after Emily Needham retired after the first set, which Molitor won 6-3.

Results- UMary 5, St. Cloud State 2
Doubles

Chloe Chong & Ilona Freitag (UMARY) def. Maria Paz Aoki & Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 6-2
Doaa Farouk Mohamed & Hala Hossam Awad (UMARY) def. Johana Brower & Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-3
Emily Needham & Samantha Purpura (UMARY) def. Olivia Fredrickson & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 6-2

Singles

Chloe Chong (UMARY) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-0, 6-0
Doaa Farouk Mohamed (UMARY) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-0, 6-1
Ilona Freitag (UMARY) def. Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 7-6, 6-3
Hala Hossam Awad (UMARY) def. Arisa Kashima (SCSU): 6-1, 6-1
Johana Brower (SCSU) def. Samantha Purpura (UMARY): 6-0, 6-0
Maria Molitor (SCSU) def. Emily Needham (UMARY): 6-3, F

Sunday's match against MSU Moorhead will be the 57^th meeting between the programs with the Huskies holding a 47-9 advantage. The Dragons have won five of the past six matches including their match last season.

Moorhead took a 1-0 lead after narrowly defeating the Huskies in all three doubles matches. Paz Aoki and Muñoz Perez were defeated 7-5 in the No. 1 spot while Molitor and Brower lost 7-6 in the No. 3 spot. In singles play, Brower tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win in the No. 5 position. The Dragons won the next three matches at the No. 4, No. 1, and No. 2 spots to clinch the match. Muñoz Perez and Molitor picked up singles victories, but the Huskies were defeated 4-3.

Results- MSU Moorhead 4, St. Cloud State 3
Doubles

Madison Bell & Tiannah Gu (MSUM) def. Maria Paz Aoki & Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU): 7-5
Tia Dykema & Shaelyn Johnson (MSUM) def. Arisa Kashima & Oriana Grott (SCSU): 6-2
Marissa Burian & Claire Nemmers (MSUM) def. Johana Brower & Maria Molitor (SCSU): 7-6

Singles

Shaelyn Johnson (MSUM) def. Oriana Grott (SCSU): 7-5, 6-2
Tiannah Gu (MSUM) def. Maria Paz Aoki (SCSU): 6-2, 6-3
Claudia Muñoz Perez (SCSU) def. Tia Dykema (MSUM): 7-6, 6-3
Marissa Burian (MSUM) def. Arisa Kashima (SCSU): 6-4, 6-3
Johana Brower (SCSU) def. Claire Nemmers (MSUM): 6-4, 6-0
Maria Molitor (SCSU) def. Madison Bell (MSUM): 6-2, 6-7, 6-0

Scouting UMary
The UMary Marauders come into this match with an overall record of 7-6 and a 6-2 conference record. UMary is currently seeded third in the NSIC standings and have an opportunity to be seeded as high as second come the NSIC Tournament.

In singles play, UMary has five players that have won six or more matches with sophomore Hala Hossam Awad leading the way with eight wins in the No. 2 spot. Junior Ilona Feitag and sophomore Maria Estinvil both have produced seven victories with Freitag's coming in the No. 3 spot while Estnivil's are in the No. 4 spot.

In doubles, junior Chloe Chong and Freitag are the top duo for the Marauders with a 7-5 record in the No.1 spot. Hossam Awad and Estinvil are the second-best duo with a 6-5 record in the No. 2 spot.

Head coach Vida Saliendra enters her 12th season as the coach of the Marauders and has accumulated a 97-84 record in her tenure. Saliendra started off as a high school coach in 2000 having success with multiple schools. Saliendra had no college coaching experience prior to being hired before the 2012-2013 season, but that has not stopped her from having success with the Marauders.

Scouting MSU Moorhead
MSU Moorhead Dragons come into this match with a 6-8 overall record and a 3-5 conference record to place them in seventh place in the NSIC Standings. The Dragons have lost three of their past four matches with losses coming against Sioux Falls, Augustana, and Minnesota Crookston.

Four Dragons have produced six or more singles wins this season with sophomore Tiannah Gu winning a team high nine matches. Senior Madison Bell has the second most wins with a 7-9 record. Five of Bell's wins have come in the No. 5 spot.

Senior Shaelyn Johnson and sophomore Luzmary Diaz Castillo are the top doubles duo for the Dragons with a 9-5 record in the No. 1 spot. Bell and Gu have produced the second most doubles wins with five but hold a 5-10 record on the year with a 4-9 record in the No. 2 position.

Head coach Alexis Konecne enters her second season with the Dragons after posting an 8-10 record in her inaugural year. Konecne was a member of the women's tennis team from 2017-2020 and served as an assistant coach for two years before being named the head coach in 2022.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Tennis, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the Huskies on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.