MANKATO, Minn. – The fall portion of the schedule has been a good one for the Yellowjacket women's tennis team. After posting the most successful season in program history in 2023-24, the Yellowjackets have gotten the follow-up campaign off to a strong start, and Saturday they closed out the fall schedule in grand style.
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On the road in Mankato, the Yellowjackets played a pair of non-conference matches, taking on UW-Stout before closing play against Bethany Lutheran. It was all Yellowjackets Saturday, as they dispatched the Blue Devils and the Vikings by identical 6-1 scores.
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The Yellowjackets end the fall schedule with a record of 4-1.
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Against UW-Stout, the Yellowjackets came out flying sweeping the doubles matches in quick fashion before finishing the job in singles play. All five Yellowjacket wins in singles play came in straight sets, with none of the wins being particularly close.
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Match Notes
- The Yellowjackets have now won three of the four all-time meetings against UW-Stout.
- Claudia Curtis (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) and Elif Oezen (Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, Germany/Einstein Gymnasium) were dominant at No. 1 doubles, defeating Stout's Molly Garber and Ella Lamppa 6-0.
- At No. 2 doubles, Daylyn Drew (Negaunee, Mich./Negaunee) Kate Jonas (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) rolled to a 6-1 win over Barreyro Odessa and Aspen Johnson.
- The Yellowjackets completed the sweep of doubles play when Jessi Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) and Brooke Wilfong (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) defeated Lindsay Leuzinger and Lexie Stein at No. 3 doubles, 6-2.
- Curtis defeated Johnson at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-2.
- Giulia Araujo De Barros (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Sabre) had little trouble with Lamppa at No. 3 singles, winning 6-3, 6-2.
- Kukowski rolled at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-3, while Jonas reversed those scores at No. 5 singles, winning 6-3, 6-1.
- Drew closed things out with a win at No. 6 singles, defeating Stein 6-2, 6-3.
- UW-Stout's only win came courtesy of a win at No. 1 singles.
In the second match Saturday, the Yellowjackets surrendered a point to Bethany Lutheran in doubles play, before sweeping all six singles matches. For the second time on the day, the Yellowjackets won their singles matches via straight sets.
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Match Notes
- Bethany Lutheran swept the three doubles matches, winning 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, 6-3 at No. 2 doubles and 6-4 at No. 3.
- Oezen had a tight match at No. 1 singles. After taking the opening set 6-3, she outlasted Bethany Lutheran's Sailor Mohlenbrock 7-5 in the second set.
- Curtis defeated Emily Yehle at No. 2 singles by scores of 6-4 and 6-2.
- Kukowski (No. 3 singles), Drew (No. 4) and Wilfong (No. 5) all won their singles matches by identical 6-1, 6-0 scores.
- After today Drew is now 4-0 on the year in singles play, including a pair of wins at the ITA Regional.
- Wilfong's win evened her singles record for the year at 2-2.
- Lillian Kimber (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) made her Yellowjacket debut Saturday and picked up her first collegiate win, defeating BLC's Brooke Kirtz 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
- With the win the Yellowjackets are now 12-0 all-time against Bethany Lutheran.
The Yellowjackets will return to action Saturday, Feb. 1 when the travel to St. Paul for a meeting with Macalester.
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