Dillon Hogan/ Winonan
Winona State University women’s tennis had a busy weekend. Due to a postponement in February, a game against St. Cloud State had to be moved to Sunday, April 6, resulting in matches three days in a row for the Warriors.
The previous weekend Winona State faced Moorhead and Augustana. These matches helped prepare the Warriors for their three days of competition.
“I think last weekend’s matches against Moorhead and Augustana went pretty well. There were a lot of tough matches played and everyone gave it their all,” Brianna Havelka said. “We started out with a great win against Moorhead on Saturday that brought high energy for the match against Augustana on Sunday. Augustana has always been a tough team, but there were many positives to the weekend even though we lost to Augustana.”
To start off the weekend, on April 4 the Warriors traveled to Crookston, Minn. to take on the University of Mary. Despite strong efforts, the Warriors fell to their opponent with a final score of 5-4.
Aimee Basinski and Havelka were able to take home victories for the Warriors. Both girls partnered together in the doubles match and secured the 8-3 win.
To counter the Warrior effort the University of Mary took the other two doubles matches to take the 2-1 lead over the Warriors.
In the singles matches, Basinski recorded scores of 6-2 and 6-3 to win her matchup in the number three position. Havelka also recorded a win in the fourth spot by way of a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
The other Warrior to win a singles match was Andrea Krueger, who controlled her opponent throughout the entire match. She won in a shutout 6-0 and 6-0.
Following the loss, the Warriors found themselves 6-10 overall and post a 5-2 record in the NSIC.
In the second match of the weekend, the Warriors took on Minnesota Crookston in another conference face-off. Unlike the first match Friday, the Warriors swept Crookston 9-0 for the victory.
Looking to bounce back from the loss the day before, the Warriors jumped on Crookston early and never let up. From the beginning, the Warriors took all three victories in the doubles matches.
Havelka and Basinski teamed together for an 8-0 win in the number two position, while Brittney Freund and Krueger matched their opponents with an 8-0 victory at the number three spot.
Rounding out the doubles wins were Hannah Potter and Jessica Urban who posted a victory by a score of 8-1. The Warriors kept up their pace set in the doubles event by winning all six singles matches in straight sets.
Havelka and Freund each posted 6-0 and 6-0 victories. Krueger earned a 6-2, 6-1 win, joined by Potter’s 6-3, 6-1 win, Urban’s 6-2, 6-2 win and Basinski’s 6-3, 6-2 win.
Following the win, the Warriors were 7-10 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC and had one opponent left to face during their weekend play.
The postponed game against St. Cloud in February left the Warriors to fill in a vital conference game. Despite solid efforts, the Warriors lost to another conference foe, this time by a score of 5-4.
Basinski and Havelka led the Warriors and both went 2-0 on the day, including a doubles win, but St. Cloud proved too much in the singles competition and won four of the six matches.
Urban and Potter gave the Warriors an early lead with their 8-0 win at the number one position. Basinski and Havelka each won their singles matches by score of 3-6, 7-5, and 10-6 for Basinski and 6-2, 6-2 for Havelka.
The Warriors are now 7-11 overall and sport a 6-3 record in the NSIC.
Winona State will begin to wrap up their regular season with the first two matches of four home games in a row next weekend on Saturday, April 12 against Upper Iowa and Southwest Minnesota State.
