The Northwestern College tennis team picked up its first win of the season, a 7-2 victory over Martin Luther College, and dropped its match against College of Saint Benedict (Minnesota) to go 1-1 on Saturday, February 17.
The Red Raiders swept the Martin Luther College Knights in all three matches, needing a tie-breaker (10-6) for sophomore Zoe Holscher and freshman Jacque Ingram to come away with a 9-8 win at the No. 1 slot. Junior Kendra McGinnis and sophomore Emma Van Drie earned a victory (8-5) in the No. 2 doubles, and sophomores Liz Foster and Kelly Shortenhaus finished off the sweep with an 8-4 win in the No. 3 doubles.
NW came out on top in four of the six singles matches, earning straight set wins at No. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Ingram picked up her team-leading fourth win with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Morgan Shevey, and McGinnis improved to 3-2 with a solid 6-0, 6-4 victory at No. 2.
Ingram was the lone victor in the morning match against College of Saint Benedict, earning a 6-2, 6-4 win in the No. 3 singles.
NW picked up its second win in a row on Feb. 20, defeating Buena Vista 9-0 in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Raiders improved to 2-4 on the year.
To go along with a dominating doubles performance, NW controlled singles’ play as well. Three of the four matches were won in straight sets. Ingram needed a tie-breaker (10-5) to defeat Rachel West to earn her team-leading fifth win in the No. 3 singles. Holscher defeated Madison Gierstorf 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles and McGinnis lost just one game in defeating Emily Hoesing in the No. 2 singles.
Of the match, McGinnis said, “Individually we all played to our strengths in both singles and doubles which lead us to be successful against BVU.”
The tennis team has the opportunity to travel to Orlando, Florida, over spring break to compete in four different matches.
