University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Gophers Complete Day Three of Gopher Invitational
9/22/2018 6:05:00 PM | Tennis
The Golden Gophers' women's tennis team went 11-6 on the third day of the Gopher Invitational, held Saturday, Sept. 22 at Baseline Tennis Center. The maroon and gold finished doubles draws with a 4-4 record and claimed seven of its nine singles match-ups.
In one of the toughest days of doubles competition for the Gophers, the duo of Annemarie Emme and River Hart went undefeated against their North Dakota (6-2) and Nebraska (6-2) opponents. Emme finished the day 3-0 after a singles victory later in the afternoon and has yet to lose a doubles match throughout the extent of the Gopher Invitational.
"Annemarie has played amazing in doubles and no matter what partner we pair her with, she still has yet to lose a match in this tournament, which [I] think speaks volumes of her play" said head coach Catrina Thompson.
The Gophers rounded off doubles draws with additional wins from the pairings of Tina Kreinis/Juliet Zhang and Tiffany Huber/Kalyssa Hall against their Northern Iowa and South Dakota opponents.
Singles competition brought in seven total victories for the Gophers' squad with only two losses during the solo singles round of the day. Tina Kreinis (6-1, 6-2), Caitlyn Merzbacher (6-3, 6-1), Juliet Zhang (6-2, 6-3), Annemarie Emme (6-3, 6-2), River Hart (7-6, 7-4, 6-4) and Kalyssa Hall (6-1, 6-1) all walked away victorious in Saturday's draws.
After facing seven total match points and being down 5-3 in the third set, Tiffany Huber had one of the most impressive wins of the day against Iowa State's Ekaterina Grib. After over three hours of play, Huber clinched a win with a final score of 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 with a 7-4 tiebreak.
"She just fought until the end and that is one of the biggest components we talk about with the team is the ability to compete in every single match and that is exactly what we saw out of Tiffany today," Thompson said. "We couldn't' have ended the day better than to save seven match points and to finish on a high note."
Sunday will conclude the Gopher Invitational tournament and will start off with two rounds of doubles at 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. followed by a solo round of singles beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Doubles Round One
- Tina Kreinis/Juliet Zhang (MINN) def. Lynch/Merrick (UNI) 6-4
- Annmarie Emme/River Hart (MINN) def. Finnigan/Lobanova (UND) 6-2
- Toledo/Phillips (UNI) def. Tiffany Huber/Kalyssa Hall (MINN) 6-4
- Alvarez/Gibbens (ISU) def. Camila Vargas-Gomez/Isabella Lambert (MINN) 7-5
Doubles Round Two
- Annemarie Emme/River Hart (MINN) def. Shinde/Aragon (NEB.) 6-2
- Haakenstad/Reifeis (NEB.) def. Tina Kreinis/Juliet Zhang (MINN) 6-1
- Tiffany Huber/Kalyssa Hall (MINN) def. Aly/Janickova (USD) 6-3
- Amano/Ochoterena (UND) def. Camila Vargas-Gomez/Isabella Lambert (MINN) 6-3
Singles
- Tina Kreinis (MINN) def. Cepelyte (ARK.) 6-1, 6-2
- Caitlyn Merzbacher (MINN) def. Walczac (DRAKE) 6-3, 6-1
- Tiffany Huber (MINN) def. Grib (ISU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 with a 7-4 tiebreak
- Juliet Zhang (MINN) def. Haleas (DRAKE) 6-2, 6-3
- Annemarie Emme (MINN) def. 6-3, 6-2
- Aragon (NEB.) def. Camila Vargas-Gomez (MINN) 6-4, 6-3
- River Hart (MINN) def. Bonadonna (ISU) 7-6, 6-4 with a 7-4 tiebreak
- Kalyssa Hall (MINN) def. Worley (NEB.) 6-1, 6-1
- Timakova (ISU) def. Isabella Lambert (MINN) 6-2, 6-4