KISSIMMEE, Fla./ORLANDO, Fla. – A day after getting their record back to the .500 mark, the Yellowjacket women's tennis team was looking to win back-to-back matches for the third time in 2023-24.
Not only did they go back-to-back, but they earned their first three-match winning streak of the season.
The Yellowjackets started the day with a hard-fought 6-3 win over Franciscan at the Oak Street Tennis Courts in Kissimmee, then finished things off with a 7-2 win over Ohio Wesleyan at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Campus in Orlando.
With the wins, the Yellowjackets are now 9-7 on the year.
In Thursday's opener, the Yellowjackets fell behind 2-1 in doubles play before rallying in singles action, winning five of six matches.
Andreina Tejada (Quito, Ecuador/Isaac Newton) clinched the victory for the Yellowjackets, earning the win a No. 1 singles. After dropping the opening set, Tejada took the second set 7-6 and then won the third set tiebreaker 10-8.
The first winner of the day for the Yellowjackets came courtesy of the No. 3 doubles duo of
Jessi Kukowski (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) and
Kate Jonas (Annandale, Minn./Annandale). The pair defeated Franciscan's team of Hazel Mistry and Maggie Gallagher by a score of 8-5.
Moving to singles play, the Yellowjackets won four of the six matches in straight sets.
Stella Harris (Negaunee, Mich./Negaunee) played he quickest match, losing just three games in her 6-3, 6-0 win a No. 6 singles.
Match One Notes
- Maya Haupt (Nuertingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg/Hoelderlin Gymnasium Nuertingen), at No. 2 singles, and Giulia Araujo De Barros (Curitiba, Brazil/Colegio Sabre) at No. 3 each lost four games in their two-set wins. Haupt downed Kina Ehlers 6-2, 6-2, while Araujo De Barros defeated Jordan Beltavski 6-1, 6-3.
- In addition to her win in doubles play, Jonas also was victorious in singles action, beating Delaney Dawson at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-2.
- The only singles victory for Franciscan came at No. 5 singles when the Yellowjackets had already clinched the match.
The Yellowjackets carried the momentum from the win over Franciscan into the nightcap and rolled to their third win in a row.
Getting off to a fast start, the Yellowjackets swept all three doubles matches to build the early lead. Jonas and
Daylyn Drew (Negaunee, Mich./Negaunee) partnered to get the winning started, winning 8-4 at No. 3 doubles in a snappy 38 minutes. A few minutes later Haupt and Tejada defeated Ohio Wesleyan's Shanzay Ali and Kaitlyn Quinn, 8-7. Tied at 7-7, the Yellowjackets ran the table in the tiebreaker, blanking OWU's duo 7-0 to get the win.
Ohio Wesleyan inched closer to the Yellowjackets, winning the first two singles matches at No. 3 and No. 5 singles, cutting the Yellowjacket lead to 3-2.
From there it was all Yellowjackets. Needing three wins to clinch the victory, the Yellowjackets started rolling and clinched things when Haupt closed out Ali at No. 1 singles by a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Match Notes
- Brooke Wilfong (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) and Claudia Curtis (Lake Mills, Wis./Lake Mills) got the win a No. 2 doubles, defeating Francesca Nuss and Lily Hershey 8-6.
- Wilfong and Curtis are now 5-3 on the year in doubles action.
- Curtis also earned a singles win, defeating Quinn at No. 2 singles 6-0, 7-6 (7-1).
- Kukowski won her match at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-3.
- Drew won at No. 6 singles, improving her record in singles play to 5-5 on the year.
- Haupt's singles win was her 10th of the season, making her the first Yellowjacket to reach double figures in wins in 2023-24.
Thursday's matches completed the Yellowjackets action in Florida. Up next is a non-conference match against Cornell College of Mount Vernon, Iowa Saturday, Apr. 6. The first serve is set for 4 p.m. at the Rochester Tennis Connection in Rochester, Minn.
