University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Hart, Huber and Merzbacher Lead the Way in the ITA Central
10/13/2018 8:18:00 PM | Tennis
River Hart mimicked her day one success into Saturday's singles action where she fought through out-of-conference opponents. Hart downed South Dakota's Jana Lazarevic 6-1, 7-5 and came out victorious in straight sets against Drake's Carmen Palumbo 6-4, 6-2. Hart will go on to face conference rival Samantha Mannix of the University of Iowa in the next round of singles draws.
The Gophers saw additional success in singles throughout day two when Tiffany Huber defeated Kseniya Zonova of Southeast Missouri 6-2, 6-2 in her first singles action of the ITA Central. Huber showed grit in the second round of singles main draws when she dominated seeded opponent, Jasmine Asghar of Oklahoma 6-3, 6-4. Huber will face off with another seeded contender, Martina Okalova of Tulsa, in the next round of singles play.
In doubles draws, the seeded team of Tiffany Huber and Caitlyn Merzbacher represented the Maroon and Gold while dominating rivals from Missouri State and Creighton. Huber and Merzbacher began their streak with an 8-4 victory over Missouri State's Darter/Khamissi and followed up with a tough 8-6 win over Creighton's Ishimura/Wilcox respectively. The Gophers' duo will go head-to-head with the Deming/Toran Ribes team representing Kansas.
"It was another long day under very tough conditions. It was not easy to prepare mentally due to the fact that I did not know where I was going to be playing until my match was called" Huber said. "I was proud of the way our team fought throughout the day and I really enjoyed getting to play with Caitlyn [Merzbacher] in doubles."
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14 the Gophers look to power through the remaining competition in doubles and singles draws. The day will kick off with the doubles round of sixteen followed by singles round of thirty-two, singles round of sixteen and conclude with singles consolation.