By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
The newly No. 50 ranked Washburn women’s tennis team (13-9) returned home from a six-match road trip and delivered a Senior Day sweep over Northeastern State University (5-13) in the penultimate match of the regular season on Saturday.
The Ichabods started the season 4-8 and have won nine of the last 10 as they moved up to No. 4 in the latest Central Region rankings.
“This is definitely the time of year that you want to be playing your best tennis,” said Washburn coach Kirby Ronning. “This is really the level that we saw our girls being able to play, but growth kind of has its ups and downs throughout a season and we aren’t where we are without some of those losses mid-season.”
Washburn doubles partners Kinsey Fields (left) and Maja Jung celebrate a point in Saturday's match against Northeastern State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Washburn senior Svea Crohn Saturday during the Ichabods' 7-0 sweep over Northeastern State. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Prior to Washburn’s fifth win in a row, the team recognized its two seniors, Svea Crohn and Kinsey Fields, who were part of more than 100 doubles wins over the last four seasons.
“The thing I am going to miss most is playing with Maja (Jung) in doubles,'' Fields said. "She just made my Washburn experience so amazing. All of the girls are really amazing.''
“Kinsey and Svea have been such a huge part of the success of the team for the last four years so it’s great to just have a moment to acknowledge everything that they have done,” Ronning said. “They both played great in their matches today … I was super proud of that and that they can celebrate their Senior Day the right way.”
Ronning is only in his second season as head coach and gives credit for the smooth transition to the players he inherited.
“It made my job a lot easier to start with some great kids,” Ronning said. “They are both kids that if I had the opportunity to recruit that I would bring them both here in a heartbeat.”
The Ichabods moved to 7-0 in conference play with the win and will have a chance to earn a regular season championship with a win against No. 4 Central Oklahoma Sunday
“Our girls have got a lot of momentum, they can go and compete out there with anybody, it’s just about going out there and having that belief that they can win,” Ronning said.
“Today we started out really good and we just need to start out good like that tomorrow. It’s just another match and we need to think like that,” Fields said.
Crohn and Marta Torres were flawless at No. 3 doubles, winning 6-0. Behind them, the No. 26 pairing of Isabella Martensson and Lara Schmid won 6-3 at the No. 1 spot to claim the doubles point for Washburn.
Jung kicked off singles play with a two-set win at No. 3. Schmid followed from the No. 4 spot, also winning in two sets. After dropping the first set Torres won her final two sets from the No. 1 position to get the fourth point of the day.
From the No. 5 spot, Martensson lost only three set points on her way to a two-set victory. At No. 2 Crohn battled back from losing the first set, and a 4-1 deficit in the third set to win 6-4.
Fields wrapped up play with consecutive 6-2 set wins to complete the sweep.
WASHBURN 7, NORTHEASTERN STATE 0
Individual Results
Doubles
No. 1 – Martensson/Schmid, Washburn def. Carvalho/Moldakhmetova, Northeastern State 6-3
No. 2 – Fields/Jung, Washburn vs Carnelutti/Jayaprakash Northeastern State 5-3 (INC)
No. 3 – Crohn/Torres, Washburn def. Romero/Vera Northeastern State 6-0
Singles
No. 1 – Torres, Washburn def. Moldakhmetova, Northeastern State 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 – Crohn, Washburn def. Carvalho, Northeastern State 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Jung, Washburn def. Carnelutti, Northeastern State 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 – Schmid, Washburn def. Jayaprakash, Northeastern State 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 – Martensson, Washburn def. Vera, Northeastern State 6-3, 6-0
No. 6 – Fields, Washburn def. Vidnere, Northeastern State 6-2, 6-2
