St. Cloud State Tennis Picked to Finish 8th in NSIC Ahead of Season Opener Against Minnesota Crookston

Burnsville, Minn.- St. Cloud State Tennis was projected to finish 8th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as announced by the league office on Thursday. Sophomore Brooklyn Broadwell was named the player to watch for the Huskies.

Head Coach Berit Merrill enters her seventh season with the Huskies ahead of the 2025 season. Merrill and the Huskies are coming off a 2024 season where they totaled a 4-11 record and a 2-7 mark in conference play. St. Cloud State finished 8th in the conference a season ago where they reached the NSIC Tournament for the third consecutive season. Their season would end in Sioux Falls as they would be defeated by Augustana 4-0.

"We have three seniors on the 2025 Huskies squad. It will be exciting and memorable as they embark on their final season as Huskies collegiate athletes," said Merrill.

Broadwell enters her second season with the Huskies and is coming off a freshman campaign where she totaled 12 totals wins with a 6-7 record in both singles and doubles.

"Brooklyn is a student- athlete that shows up day in and day out. She gives her all in everything she does: in the classroom, conditioning and certainly on the tennis court," said Merrill.

St. Cloud State will be returning a bulk of their lineup from a season ago including Johana Brower, Oriana Grott, Claudia Muñoz Perez, Maria Paz Aoki, and Lara-Maria Schaefer. Brower led the Huskies in total wins with 13, six singles and seven doubles. Grott finished the year with an 11-12 record with a 6-5 record in doubles. Muñoz Perez led SCSU in singles play with a team-high of eight wins and a 12 total wins on the year. Paz Aoki was part of the top doubles tandem for the Huskies with Brower. That duo totaled seven wins during the season. As a freshman, Schaefer went 6-3 in singles and finished the year with nine total wins.

In the offseason, the Huskies added freshman Gibby Chapman from Lincoln, Nebraska. For Lincoln East High School in her senior year, Chapman was a state champion as an individual and as a team. She also broke a school record with a perfect 37-0 record in doubles play.

Preseason Coaches' Poll Results

Augustana
Minnesota State
Sioux Falls
UMary
Minnesota Crookston

MSU Moorhead
Winona State

St. Cloud State
Bemidji State
Minnesota Duluth

St. Cloud State is set to open their season on Saturday, January 31 as they take on Minnesota Crookston at the Sta-Fit Tennis Center.

Series History
Friday's match against Minnesota Crookston will be the 25th meeting between the programs with SCSU holding a 23-1 record against the Golden Eagles. The team's faced off once last season where UMC snapped the Huskies 23 match winning streak against them.

St. Cloud State dropped the doubles point only win one of the matches. The Huskies got off to a fast start as Claudia Muñoz Perez and Lara-Maria Schaefer picked up their first win of the season as they defeated Daniela de Lucas Rivera and Ariadna Solis Guals 6-2 in the No. 1 spot. Johana Brower and Maria Paz Aoki would fall 3-6 in the No. 2 spot. Maria Molitor and Brooklyn Broadwell would fall 3-6 in the No. 3 spot as Minnesota Crookston secured the doubles point.

In singles play, the Huskies would win three matches, but could not win a fourth to secure a victory. Muñoz Perez and Brower both picked up their first wins of the season in the No. 3 and No. 4 spot respectively. Muñoz Perez defeated Ariadna Solis Guals 6-1, 6-2 and Brower defeated Blaike Zander 6-2, 6-1 as the Huskies put two points on the board. Schaefer battled in the No. 6 spot and ultimately picked up her second win of the season as she defeated Kavya Singh 2-6, 6-2, 10-5. Paz Aoki, Oriana Grott and Broadwell were all defeated in straight sets as the Golden Eagles came out victorious with a 4-3 victory.

Results Minnesota Crookston 4, St. Cloud State 3
Doubles

Lara-Maria Schaefer & Claudia Muñoz Perez def. Daniela de Lucas Rivera & Ariadna Solis Guals: 6-2
Madeleine Schneider & Blaike Zander def. Maria Paz Aoki & Johana Brower: 6-3
Nadia Cases Mundet & Kavya Singh def. Maria Molitor & Brooklyn Broadwell: 6-3

Singles

Madeleine Schneider def. Maria Paz Aoki: 6-2, 6-1
Daniela de Lucas Rivera def. Oriana Grott: 6-2, 6-3
Claudia Muñoz Perez def. Ariadna Solis Guals: 6-1, 6-2
Johana Brower def. Blaike Zander (UMC): 6-2, 6-1
Nadia Cases Mundet def. Brooklyn Broadwell: 6-3, 6-1
Lara-Maria Schaefer def. Kavya Singh: 2-6, 6-2, 10-5

Scouting Minnesota Crookston
The Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles come into this season projected to finish fifth in the NSIC after going 10-5 with a 5-4 conference record. The Golden Eagles reached the NSIC Tournament where they were defeated 4-3 against Sioux Falls.

Coming into this season, the Golden Eagles return one of their two All-Conference performers from a season ago in Daniella De Lucas Rivera. As a freshman, De Lucas Rivera earned Second Team All-Singles after going 7-2 at the number two doubles spots. Other key returning players for UMC include Nadia Cases Mundet and Kavya Singh. Cases Mundet totaled a 7-2 record in singles play the number 5 spot. Singh went 4-4 in doubles but then partnered with Cases Mundet to go 7-1 in doubles, which was a team best.

Head Coach Josh Lunak enters his fourth season with Minnesota Crookston in 2025. Lunak has totaled a 19-27 record in his tenure, but has increased his win total after every season.

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