Women’s tennis ends season at GWC tournament

After the spring weather conditions cancelled back-to-back tournaments, the University of South Dakota women’s tennis team was back in action April 16 against Chicago State University and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in Green Bay, Wisc.

The team lost to Chicago State 3-4 and Wisconsin-Green Bay 1-6, bringing their record to 4-13.

“We were very happy to play last weekend,” head coach Malcolm Gilreath said. “We played Chicago State, and they’re very good at the top. We played very well at the bottom. They won the doubles point, so we lost the match 3-4. They’ve beaten some other good teams 3-4, so we know we’re right in the mix.”

The weather continued to affect the women last weekend, junior Ysabel Nunez said.

“It was a pretty tough weekend, due to the lack of practices,” Nunez said. “We held our heads high and a couple girls on the team got some wins, so I figure we did pretty well for the circumstances.”

The women’s team will have the weekend off, as they prepare for the season-ending Great West Championship, April 29-May 1 in Chicago, Ill.

“Our focus for this next week and a half is to hopefully get some good weather so we can practice outside,” Gilreath said. “In the meantime, we’re going to go down to Four Seasons (the indoor tennis courts) in Sioux City, Iowa, and get some indoor court time.”

Gilreath said he expects the Great West Championship to have a high level of competition.

“The way the draw plays out we’re the sixth seed going in, so there’s a good chance we’ll get to play North Dakota,” Gilreath said. “They’re a good team and we match up well with them, so it’s going to come down to who’s going to be there that day and who’s going to play their hardest.”

Because of the high level of competition, sophomore Marina Kiefer said it will be tough since they will be playing teams they haven’t played yet this year.

“We’re not sure how we’re going to do against those teams, but we’re going to try our best,” Kiefer said. “If we all pull our games together, we know what’s coming ahead of us now. If we just play our games, I think we can do really well.”

Reach reporter Kayla Prasek at [email protected]