Huskies Outrun Saginaw Valley State
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's tennis team opened the weekend with another solid Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory 6-1 at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday. The Huskies swept the singles portion of the match after facing an early 1-0 deficit through doubles.
"We really matured as a team today and battled through some adversity for a big win," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "We took a big step today as we continue to build a winning culture in our program. We were disappointed about not being able to win the doubles point, but I'm proud of our team for coming back strong in singles.
"We played very well under pressure, especially in No. 4 and No. 6 singles, where we came back to win all three points in three sets. It was also great to see Mirna [Golac] get the match clinching point at the No. 5 spot in the lineup."
Sophomore Ivona Gorgioski and freshman Jessica Brown won their No. 1 doubles match for Michigan Tech (4-0, 3-0 GLIAC) easily 6-1, but Saginaw Valley State (2-1, 2-1 GLIAC) bounced back with wins in the No. 2 spot 7-5 and in No. 3 doubles 6-3. The result was a 1-0 lead for the Cardinals going into singles competition.
Gorgioski anchored the No. 1 singles spot for the Huskies again on Saturday and prevailed over Maddie Miller to tie the match 1-1. Gorgioski claimed victory in the first set 6-4 and then pulled away in the second set 6-2 to go to 5-2 on the year.
Brown gave Michigan Tech the lead as a result of her win in No. 2 singles. Brown battled Joanne Gao and got out to a quick start with a 6-3 decision in set one. Brown then swept all the points in the second set on her way to a 6-0 win and one point for the Huskies. Brown, the GLIAC Player of the Week, is now 7-1 in singles competition this season.
Freshman Samantha Johnson improved to 5-2 in singles competition by recording a 6-2, 6-3 win in No. 3 singles on Saturday. Johnson got past Taylor McLaughlin and the Huskies found themselves up at that juncture 3-1, needing one point to clinch the match.
Freshman Mirna Golac was able to do just that in No. 5 singles by edging Gyselle Gutierrez 7-6 and 6-4. Golac picked up her fifth singles victory of the 2018 season. Junior Anabella Neri rallied for a three set win in No. 6 singles against Nicole Johnson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to improve to 6-2 and senior Vicky Quinde closed the afternoon with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 triumph over Maya Campbell in No. 4 singles. Quinde is now 5-2 as well in singles matches this year.
The Huskies will be back on the court Sunday morning at Northwood for another GLIAC match starting at 11 a.m.
"Northwood will be a good challenge for us and be a measuring stick for where we are at as a team," Kalinec added. We need to raise the bar even more in tomorrow's match in order to give ourselves an opportunity to win against a very good Northwood team."
The Timberwolves topped Lake Superior State 7-0 on Saturday and are also undefeated at 3-0 to begin the year.