UNK Women's Tennis 2024 MIAA Champions // UNK Communications
TOPEKA, KANS. – The 17th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney women’s tennis team won the 2024 MIAA regular season title by beating 13th-ranked Washburn, 4-1, Friday afternoon in Topeka, Kan.
The Lopers (18-4, 7-1) have won six in a row with the last four victories coming against nationally ranked squads. They’ll be the top seed in next week’s MIAA Tournament in Edmond, Okla. Due to weather, these duals were moved up a few hours and inside to the Genesis Tennis Center.
This marks UNK’s first-ever MIAA regular season title and the program’s first title since the 2011-12 Lopers were Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular season champs.
To hand the Ichabods (17-4, 5-2) a rare loss, UNK first took the doubles point thanks to senior Melisa Becerra (Colombia) and Narindra Ranaivo (Madagascar) rallying for a 7-5 win at one. Ranked 45th-nationally and coming off a rare setback, they rallied from a 5-4 hole to record their 20th win. Earlier, redshirt sophomore Clare Plachy (Lincoln Pius) and junior Alexis Bernthal (Boulder, Colo.) won 6-2 at three.
In singles, the Lopers jumped out to a 3-1 lead as Ranaivo rolled again at four (6-2, 6-4) and freshman Fabiana Gamboa (Venezuela) did the same at three (6-4, 6-3). Bernthal was poised for a straight sets win and the clinch at five, but Peyton Koper scored the last four points in the second set, 7-5.
Becerra then had a chance for the clinch as she was up 7-6, 5-4 at two but Renske Urbahs rallied with three straight points and then was up 2-0 in the third set. However, Bernthal secured things with a resounding 6-1 win in her third set.
UNK will play again on Saturday (May 4) at 10 a.m. against the winner of the four-five match. That’ll be held on Friday afternoon.
On the men’s side, the eighth-ranked Ichabods (17-4, 4-0) swept the young Lopers (13-10, 2-2) to win the 2024 North Division title.WU took the doubles point thanks to 6-4 and 6-3 wins at one and three, respectively, and then swept singles. Graduate Aaron Osmond (U.K.) more than battled 26th-ranked Sebastian Pjontek at two, falling 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. He was up 5-3 before Pjontek rallied for the victory.
UNK will be the third seed in next week’s league tourney and face Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) on Wednesday (May 1) at 10 a.m.
