Tennis recovers with big non-conference win

The Northwestern women’s tennis team recovered from a rough weekend to pick up a 6-3 win at Buena Vista Wednesday night.
Sophomore Kellie Korver picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win in No. 2 singles action. Senior Nessa Summers dominated 6-0, 6-4, and freshman Rachel Nysetvold provided an impressive 6-0, 6-3 victory.
Junior Julie Mineart was knocked off 6-3, 6-3 in the top spot. Senior Laura Starr dropped her sets 6-4, 6-1, and her partner, senior Kate Mannenbach, also fell by the score of 6-3, 6-2.
The doubles action was close throughout, but the Raiders prevailed in all three matches. Korver and Mineart won 9-7 to start things off. Starr and Mannenbach also out-battled their opponents to win 8-6. Summers and freshman Missy Yorchak improved to a striking 7-2 on the year after their 8-3 victory.
The women couldn’t find a win in their two conference match-ups on Saturday. They fell to Nebraska Wesleyan 9-0 and couldn’t fully recover for their afternoon matches against Hastings, going home empty-handed after a 5-4 loss.
Nebraska Wesleyan dominated on the court, with the closest matches being Summers 8-6 defeat, and Mineart/Korver dropping their doubles set 8-5. All matches were eight-point pro-sets, and Korver stated that “Each player on our team has been competing fiercely . . . many of the games we played went into deuce, and the rallies were long.
Coach Jeff Guthmiller added, “They are one of the elite teams in the conference . . .We did some nice things; Nebraska Wesleyan  just has a very nice program.”
The afternoon match-up with Hastings saw a better number on the scoreboard for NW. Korver won her match 6-3, 6-0. Summers also was victorious, winning by a score of 6-2, 6-4. Starr brought her game to a third set, but fell 7-5, 2-6, 10-8.
In doubles action, Mineart and Korver teamed up for an 8-6 victory. Summers and Yorchak made the final tally interesting after winning their match 8-5, but the four Raider victories weren’t enough to secure an overall win.
Guthmiller reflected on the mental side of the Hastings match-up, saying, ”I think we let our guards down a little after playing quite well in the morning. I felt we lost a little of our aggressiveness in the Hastings match.”
Northwestern will play at Briar Cliff this Tuesday at 4 p.m.