Greeley, Colo. - The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team continues to excel in Big Sky Conference play, earning a dominant, 6-1, victory against North Dakota (Friday, Feb. 19), followed by a close win, 4-3, over Northern Colorado (Sunday, Feb. 21).
With the wins, Eastern improves to 8-3 on the season and 3-0 in league play, sitting in first place in the Big Sky standings.
Against North Dakota, EWU played at a high level on the road, only dropping one singles match in the entire contest. In the doubles competition, sophomore Janaya Smith and freshman Faye Worrall took a strong victory in the No. 1 spot against Lacey Sprinkel and Mimi Yunker, 6-1. Senior Moira Hedberg and junior Erin Blessing went into a tiebreaker against Faith Lee and Preethi Kasilingam, winning 7-6 (7-1). The tandem of juniors Dani Young and Katrina Domingo took down UND's Aliza Deming and Courtney Brackin, 6-1.
The singles portion was just as dominant for the Eagles, winning three of the five matches in straight sets. Smith played out of the No. 1 spot, beating Sprinkel 6-4, 6-2, while Blessing dominated Mary Wessman 6-2, 6-0. Worrall won her seventh dual of the season, beating out Deming 6-2, 6-0. In the No. 2 spot, Hedberg played three sets against Yunker, winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Young dropped her first set, 1-6, against Kasilingam, but came back to take the match 6-3, 6-4.
Against Northern Colorado, the doubles point turned out to be the difference maker, as Eastern tied in the singles contest. The team grabbed the point early on with two match wins. The duo of Janaya Smith and Faye Worrall had a huge win against the 40th ranked doubles team in the nation, Beth Coton and Remi Immler, 7-6 (6), and Moira Hedberg and Erin Blessing beat Courtney Schulte and Hilary Walters-West, 6-3.
Hedberg has emerged as the veteran leader for the Eagles, continuing her great dual play by defeating Coton, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. After a 6-3, 7-5 victory by Dani Young against Marissa Baca, UNC won its third singles match, tying the contest at 3-3, with the deciding game up next. With the weight of the match on her shoulders, Erin Blessing faced the pressure and came up with the win in the clutch. The match was an absolute battle going three sets. Anna Battersby won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4), but Blessing took control in the next two, winning them 6-3, 6-3, giving EWU the victory.
Head Coach Dustin Hinson shared his thoughts on the matches, "I'm really pleased coming out of this weekend with a sweep on the road. Every conference match is tough, especially on the road. Our focus going into the weekend was to be "all in" and to stay hungry from start to finish in each match. I'm very happy with how the team responded. We had several 3-set matches on the weekend and won the majority of them. This shows our resolve to never give up and to keep fighting for ways to come out on top. "
Conference play continues in the Eagles' next outing, as they face Weber State at home on Friday, Feb. 26, starting at 10 a.m. PST.
Results:
Eastern Washington – 6
North Dakota – 1
Doubles:
1. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. Sprinkel, Lacey/Yunker, Mimi (UND) 6-1
2. HEDBERG, Moira/BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Lee, Faith/Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) 7-6 (7-1)
3. YOUNG, Dani/DOMINGO, Katrina (EWU) def. Deming, Aliza/Brackin, Courtney (UND) 6-1
Singles:
1. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) def. Sprinkel, Lacey (UND) 6-4, 6-2
2. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) def. Yunker, Mimi (UND) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
3. Lee, Faith (UND) def. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) 6-1, 6-4
4. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) def. Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Wessman, Mary (UND) 6-2, 6-0
6. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. Deming, Aliza (UND) 6-2, 6-0
Eastern Washington – 4
Northern Colorado – 3
Doubles:
1. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) def. Coton, Beth/Immler, Remi (UNC) 7-6 (6)
2. HEDBERG, Moira/BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Schulte, Courtney/Walters-West, Hilary (UNC) 6-3
3. YOUNG, Dani/DOMINGO, Katrina (EWU) def. Baca, Marissa/ Battersby, Anna (UNC) DNF
Singles:
1. Krajcovicova, Lea (UNC) def. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) 7-5, 6-4
2. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) def. Coton, Beth (UNC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
3. Walters-West, Hilary (UNC) def. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) 6-2, 6-1
4. YOUNG, Dani (EWU) def. Baca, Marissa (UNC) 6-3, 7-5
5. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Bettersby, Anna (UNC) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3
6. Immler, Remi (UNC) def. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
