Minnetonka, Minn. - Sixth seeded Sioux Falls upset third seeded St. Cloud State 5-2 in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Women's Tennis Tournament. The Cougars advance to Sunday morning's semifinal match against second seeded Upper Iowa at 8 a.m. after USF won two doubles matches and three of four singles.
Led by its four seniors (Alison Kauss, Stacey Beard, Emily Erickson and Joey Wenborg), USF came out Saturday with a determined effort, which made USF head tennis coach Kevin Grebin very pleased with his team.
Interestingly, just 13 days ago, USF had dropped an 8-1 decision to SCSU on the road but lost five matches in tie breakers. Today, the Cougars battled throughout and turned around that earlier result.
USF captured two of three matches in doubles to take an advantage into singles play. Then, USF closed out the match with wins at #2, #4 and #6 singles.
In the doubles competition, USF’s #1 Alison Kauss and Emily Erickson (9-9) dropped an 8-6 decision to Abigail Kantor/Diversi Roque but then the Cougars rallied with two straight wins in doubles. At #2 doubles, Joey Wenborg andKara Bunkers (9-4) took an 8-5 decision over Alexie Portz/Jill Kedrowski at #2, improving to 9-4 overall this season. At #3, Abby Seigenthaler and Stacey Beard (14-5) rallied from a big deficit and took a 9-7 decision over Miranda Wynkoop/Santos Quintino dos to move to 14-5 on the season.
In the singles play Kauss (7-9) put together a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory at #2 singles. After Diversi Roque of SCSU defeated Erickson (6-13), 7-5, 6-4, both Stacey Beard and Kylie Simons had victories. Beard (12-7) had a straight set, 6-3, 6-0 decision over James Voelker at #4 while Simons (12-7) picked up a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Jill Kedrowski at #6 singles.
In the other two matches Kara Bunkers at #5 and Joey Wenborg at #1 both had split two sets against their SCSU competitors when the match ended.
Sioux Falls 5, St. Cloud State 2
Apr 23, 2016 at Minnetonka, Minn. (Lifetime Fitness)
| Singles competition |
| 1. O'Brien, El (SCSU) vs. Joey Wenborg (SF) 5-7, 6-2, unfinished |
| 2. Alison Kauss (SF) def. Kantor, Abigail (SCSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) |
| 3. Roque Diversi, M. (SCSU) def. Emily Erickson (SF) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 4. Stacey Beard (SF) def. Voelker, Jamie (SCSU) 6-3, 6-0 |
| 5. Portz, Alexie (SCSU) vs. Kara Bunkers (SF) 6-4, 6-8 (0-1), unfinished |
| 6. Kyle Simons (SF) def. Kedrowski, Jill (SCSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. Kantor, Abigail/Roque Diversi, M. (SCSU) def. Alison Kauss/Emily Erickson (SF) 9-7 |
| 2. Joey Wenborg/Kara Bunkers (SF) def. Portz, Alexie/Kedrowski, Jill (SCSU) 8-5 |
| 3. Abby Seigenthaler/Stacey Beard (SF) def. Wynkoop, Miranda/Quintino dos Santos (SCSU) 9-7 |
| Match Notes |
| Sioux Falls 12-7 |
| St. Cloud State 12-9 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,2,3,6) |
| NSIC Tennis Tournament Quarterfinal, 3-6 Matchup |