The Winona State University’s women’s tennis team played two amazing games this weekend at the Winona Tennis Center. The match on Friday was against the University of Minnesota Duluth and the match on Saturday was against St. Cloud University. Both games ended with a final score of 5-2 marking two more Warrior wins.  

The Warriors began their Friday evening with a sendoff of their only fourth-year Sara Anderson before beginning the game against the Duluth Bulldogs. 

The Warriors started the evening off strong with doubles. They put on an incredible show, winning all their matches before moving on to singles. It could be argued that this game was the current best example of the women’s tennis team’s collective hard work and talent.  

The matches were exhilarating for both the players and their captive fans as they amped up or both the players and their captive fans as they amped up their competitiveness.  

“This is the most exciting tennis game I’ve seen in a while,” A Warrior fan in the stands said.  

They ended their night in high spirits with hopes for more great matches Saturday night.   

Winona State started their night against St. Cloud looking forward to the last matches of the season at home.  

They had played against St. Cloud earlier this season with a final score of 4-3. The Warriors were prepared to fight as they knew that they would be battling against a well-matched school, and they would not win easily. Coach Tom Sanvik referred to their games as a “dog fight,” indicative of some tense but thrilling matches to come. 

The Warriors excelled at doubles having won all their matches against the Huskies. The matches that went longer were typically more exciting as the pairs were well-matched in skill and had to play hard to obtain a win.  

Heading into the singles there was immediate tension spotted on the court between the two players. From Winona State, Skylar Gary faced St. Cloud player Johana Brower. These women had faced each other before, a match that had resulted in a tie until Gary managed to pull through in the tiebreaker.  

During their game, Brower was vocal every time she scored a point, which was causing a tension to simmer in the air.  

A Warrior parent noted that it was more likely to cheer herself on than anything else, however, it clearly bothered her opponent as Gary began to mock the shouts, provoking Brower and causing her to get upset.  

The two began to pick fights with one another, so much so that the referee broke it up two times throughout their match. Sanvik noted that it was nothing but a “mental mind game” and that Gary just needed to “grind it out.” 

And grind it out she did. The girls finished their match at 6-6 which pushed them into another tiebreaker. During the match, Skylar was down 5-0 until she began making Brower move about the court with tactical hits, allowing Gary to catch up and snag her win.  

As the last game of the night, the match had a devout and involved group of spectators, all of whom were hoping for another Warrior win.  

It was certainly a hard loss for Brower who had sported unbeatable play throughout the season so far, making it quite the achievement for Gary.  

Overall, the Warriors beat the Huskies 5-2, adding another well-earned win to their belt.  

The women’s tennis team plays again on March 22 when they will travel to take on the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota.