Reagan Johnson / Winonan

The Winona State University tennis team traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday evening to compete against Augustana University where they fell 9-0.

The Warriors won a total of 11 games against the Vikings. Sophomore Rachel Gantz fell 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and first-year Keara Thiele lost 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 singles.

On Sunday morning the Warriors took on the University of Sioux Falls and fell 8-1. Sophomore Justine Daane led the team with a 6-3, 6-0 win against the Cougars’ Joey Wenbory in No. 1 singles.

Winona State head coach Heather Pierce said she was excited about Daane’s performance.

“I was pleased with the decisive victory Justine Daane had at No. 1 singles verses Sioux Falls senior Joey Wenborg. Justine lost to her last season, but beat her convincingly on Sunday,” Pierce said.

Pierce mentioned Daane took on a new a role in the No. 1 singles spot this season.

“She has a strong mental game and a competitive edge that helps her find success,” Pierce said.

Junior Katie Scruggs won her first set at No. 5 singles 6-3, but lost in the second set 0-6 concluding in a tiebreaker where she lost 7-10.

“The matches against Augustana and Sioux Falls went about as expected,” Pierce said. “Augustana is the best and they’ve ever been, and will likely find themselves ranked top 20 in the nation before the end of the season.”

Thiele said the team’s effort was present throughout the weekend.

“I think that we did the best we could and had Justine Daane pull out a win for us. Although we lost, everyone played very well and gave it their best shot,” Thiele said.

Pierce said the team wants to keep becoming better.

“As a team, we would like to improve on our consistency on the singles court and on our net game on the doubles court,” Pierce said.

Winona State returns home next weekend to compete against Minnesota State University Moorhead on Friday and the University of Mary on Saturday.