The Northern Kentucky Women’s Tennis team extended its winning streak to seven matches with two road wins in as many days, defeating Saint Joseph’s College 9-0, on March 20, and Lewis University 8-1, on March 21.
With the two wins, the Norse improve to 2-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play ‘- perhaps a sign of things to come according to sophomore Kristen Sunday.
‘To me, these matches are just a starting point,’ said Sunday, who finished the weekend’s play undefeated.’
She added that she was the proudest of her win over Lewis’ Melanie Sandberg (6-2, 6-2), attributing the trumping to her ability to adjust her game in the middle of the match.
‘My normal game of flat power was not going to work to win this match,’ Sunday said. ‘I had to play with more spin and be consistent.’
Lewis’ Maggie Novack and Clare Kessler defeated NKU sophomore Ivana Misic and freshman Jenny Hand 8-5 for the Norse’s only loss of the weekend.
Hand won all of her singles matches, including a victory over Lewis’ Bayley Brown (3-6, 6-3, 10-3), despite the doubles loss.
According to Hand, although she was paired with a talented opponent, it was her own tentative play that allowed her to dig deep and win the match in a super tiebreak.
She added that losing the first set had no effect over her morale through the remainder of the match.
‘I don’t take losing the first set as a sign I’m going to lose the match,’ Hand said. ‘When I’m relaxed on the court, coming back to win a match is more easily done. It’s not over until you shake your opponent’s hand.’
Junior Michelle Schirmann was particularly consistent through both of her singles matches and forced her opponents to make errors; a tactic she admitted played a significant role in her two-set win over Saint Joseph’s Samantha Busch (6-0, 6-0).
‘She had a lot of trouble with my serve,’ Schirmann said.
Next NKU will travel to St. Louis, Mo., to take on the University of Missouri-Saint Louis Tritons March 27 and visit Quincy, Ill., for a matchup with Quincy March 28, before opening home play against Drury on April 3.