April 27, 2008

Women's Tennis Wins RMAC Tournament

Men Fall to Rival Metro in Finals; NCAA's Up Next For Both

       Kearney, Neb. – Senior McKenna Irwin capped an amazing weekend for the Nebraska-Kearney women's tennis team by winning her match at No. 4 singles to help the Lopers beat Mesa State, 5-4, for the 2008 RMAC Tournament title Sunday afternoon at Harmon Park in Kearney.

      This is the Lopers (13-10) first-ever RMAC title, regular season or tournament. UNK came into the seven-team event seeded fourth but beat the fifth, first and second seeds to extend it's season.

      Mesa State, on the other hand, was looking to repeat it's tournament title from a year ago.

      By winning today, UNK earns the RMAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The North Central Regional will be played May 8-9 or 9-10 at a site to be determined. The brackets will also be announced later this week.

      In 1997, UNK made it's only NCAA appearance in women's tennis, falling to Northern Colorado by a 5-0 score.

      On the men's side, second-seeded Metro State beat top-seeded UNK (14-5), 5-2, to win a second straight tournament title. The two schools will likely meet in the first round of the South Central, also held May 8-9 or 9-10.

      In the women's championship match, UNK grabbed a 2-1 lead after doubles play. Fremont junior Callie Erickson and Holdrege freshman Marcelle Strydom beat Victoria Sargent and Kate Lowder by a narrow 8-6 score in the second spot. 

      Erickson and Strydom earned first-team All-RMAC honors this spring with Sargent and Lowder tabbed as the league's second best pair at No. 2 doubles.

      However, Mesa grabbed a one point lead by winning at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. Former Kearney Catholic standout Kristen Messbarger got the team score knotted up again as she fought through a shoulder injury to win at No. 2 doubles, 7-5, 6-2.

      UNK would grab a point lead as Erickson won at No. 6 singles but the Mavs won at No. 5 singles to tie things at four.

      At No. 54 singles, Irwin (Bellevue West) beat Kelsey Bottinelli 6-4 in the first set. But, Bottinelli responded with a convincing 6-1 win in set two. Irwin would bounce back and win the third set by a 6-3 score.

      The men's match saw Metro grab a 2-1 lead after doubles play. Two of the best doubles teams in the region squared off in the No. 1 spot as the 'Runners Riley Meyer and Sascha Ruckelsahusen clamed a 8-6 win over William Jacome and Andres Espinosa.

      Minnesota freshman Stefan Voigt did win at No. 5 singles but Metro claimed victory in the second, fourth and sixth spots to take home the trophy.

      During the regular season, UNK beat Metro, 5-4. Last year, the 'Runners went 2-1 against the Lopers, falling in the regular season but winning in the RMAC's and NCAA's.