IOWA -- It was a competitive day of close matches against Cornell College and Coe College on Saturday, with multiple three set matches, tiebreakers, and come-from-behind victories for the Vikings. In the end, the Vikings would emerge victorious in both matches besting Cornell College, 7-2, and Coe College, 5-4.
The day started off slow for the Vikings, with Cornell taking advantage of home court and managing early leads in all of the doubles matches. #2 doubles of Starr/Ristfeldt figured out their game plan first and quickly took the lead to win a decisive 8-3. #3 doubles finished up next with a close 8-6 match that kept everyone on their toes as Cornell made a late-match surge which would prove not quite enough against North Park. #1 doubles started off behind as Carlberg/Kraljevic could not get their service game online in the early games. Ince they flipped the momentum late in the set, however, they never looked back and won 8-5.
Singles matchups were a little more lopsided with some decisive sets going in North Park's favor, while other matches went to third-set tiebreakers. #1 singles player Teodora Kraljevic had the closest and longest battle of the day, going to three sets and finishing wiht a 10-6 tiebreaker. #5 singles Maddie Starr, who would go 4-0 for the day, was pushed to the edge in the first set, but won the tiebreaker before dominating the 2nd set. #3 singles Alexandra Ristfeldt had the cleanest wins for the whole day winning easily in both her singles and doubles matches.
The afternoon match against Coe College was much closer. North Park had to adjust their lineup for singles after some minor injuries prevented the regular lineup from playing. The Vikings handled the matchups well, though, and fought to the very end. The final deciding match of the day was one in a tie-breaker by Maddie Starr, securing the 5-4 win for the Vikings.
"Overall, the team fought hard through a long, hot day against two strong opponents," said Coach Karl Soderstrom. "Our doubles matches proved to be key to our victories and showed some real promise for a strong doubles season for our team. This is exciting, given the new partner combinations we are trying out this year. I have to hand it to the whole team in the afternoon for fighting to the end in our matches. We started off our singles behind in the first few games, but nobody let up at all in their 2nd and 3rd sets. We are a mentally tough team, and we can't wait to bring this to the start of our conference season later this week."
What's Next?
North Park (3-0) heads into their conference and home opener with the wind at their backs. The Vikings host Elmhurst this coming Wednesday, September 13. First serve is set for 4:00 PM CT.
