SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The No. 41-ranked Northwest Missouri State University women's tennis team posted a 4-0 victory to eliminate the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers from the MIAA Tournament Friday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
Northwest is the No. 3 seed in the tournament and was able to get past No. 6 seed UNK for the second time this season. Northwest earned a 5-2 victory over UNK earlier this year.
Northwest will take on No. 2 seed and No. 17-nationally ranked Washburn in a semifinal match set for 10 a.m. Saturday. The winner of the Northwest-Washburn match will play for the MIAA championship Sunday.
The Northwest-UNK match swung early on the result of the doubles point. UNK won at No. 1 doubles and Northwest scored a victory at No. 3 doubles. The doubles point hung on the match at No. 2. Northwest's
Majra Djokic and
Polina Gontaryk were pushed to a tiebreaker before prevailing, 7-6 (7-3), over UNK's Fabiana Gamboa and Clare Plachy. With the victory, Northwest took a 1-0 lead in the dual.
The Bearcats carried the momentum into singles play. Djokic gained a 6-4, 6-1 win over UNK's Julia Wartecka at No. 2 singles. Gontaryk kept with the winning ways with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against UNK's Augustaina Abdo at No. 5 singles.
Polina Agapitova breezed past UNK's Hannah Klaiber at No. 6 singles.
Northwest is 17-4 on the season. UNK is 10-11.
