Sioux Falls, S.D. - Friday was a good day for the Winona State University women's tennis program.
First, senior
Mya Lubben was honored by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with the NSIC Elite 18 Award, given to the women's tennis student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 Championships. In earning the award, Lubben extends an impressive Warrior streak in which Winona State tennis student-athletes have been named the NSIC Elite 18 award winner for the past four seasons.
Kendra Kappes was a two-time Elite 18 winner for the 2019 and 2020 NSIC Tennis Championships, following teammate
Rachel Gantz who won the award in 2018.
After the award presentation to Lubben, the Warriors went to work in the 2021 NSIC Women's Tennis Championships, where the second-seeded Winona State squad, under first-year head coach
Tom Sanvik, was set to face seventh-seeded Minnesota - Duluth.
The Bulldogs battled early against Winona State, earning the doubles point to start the competition. Minnesota Duluth won the #1 doubles match 6-4, with Mallory Lithun and Shay Callaway beating WSU's
Audrey Delich and
Beth Murman. WSU won at the #2 doubles level, as
Rina Niehoff and
Rachel Kelly defeated UMD's Sophie Lynch and Isabel Thiner, 6-0. At #3 doubles, UMD's Abby Johnson and Emily Rahrik outlasted
Faith Young and
Sara Anderson, 7-5 in a closely contested final doubles match.
In singles play however, the Warriors rallied to punch their ticket to the NSIC semi-finals, reeling off four straight wins to capture the match 4-1. Under NSIC post-season tennis format, two matches went unfinished once Winona State had the four needed points for the win.
At #1 singles, Winona State's
Beth Murman beat Sophie Lynch, 6-2, 6-0, while Warrior teammate Rachell Kelly took care of business at #2, defeating UMD's Mallory Lithun 6-4, 6-3.
Brooke Jorgensen dealt Minnesota-Duluth's a 6-2, 6-4 loss at #5 singles, and when
Audrey Delich defeated the Bulldogs' Emily Rahrik, 6-3, 6-4, Winona State had earned the berth to the semifinals.
WSU's
Sara Anderson (#6 singles) and
Rina Niehoff (#3 singles) matches went unfinished, as they were still in progress went the Warriors reached the requisite four points. At the time, Anderson was winning 7-4, 5-4 over UMD's Abby Johnson and Niehoff had a 6-3, 3-2 advantage over Shay Callaway.
With the Warrior win, Sanvik and Winona State will face Minnesota State University - Moorhead in the NSIC semifinals at 8am on Saturday. The live stream of the matches are available
at this link.
For the most up to date news in Warrior Athletics, please visit:
www.WINONASTATEWARRIORS.com and
@WinonaStateATH.
About Winona State University Athletics:
The Winona State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, as an integral part of the educational mission of the institution, is committed to offering opportunities to experience academic and athletic excellence for our student-athletes through two simple words:
Graduate Champions.
Fourteen Warrior programs compete at the NCAA Division II level within the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Winona State University competes as an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in the sport of women's gymnastics.
