Anderson Blanks Mount St. Joseph on Senior Day
The Anderson University women's tennis team blanked Mount St. Joseph University with a 9-0 victory on Senior Day during Saturday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup at the AU Tennis Courts.
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Anderson moved to 6-1 overall with a 2-0 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) record while Mount St. Joseph fell to 1-4 with a 0-3 conference record.
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"We stayed focused," Coach Bryant Beard said. "We wanted to get the win, but if we could get the win 9-0 that is even better for tiebreaker reasons. We had a couple of injuries and played some people in different positions, so it's awesome that we got the job done. I'm pretty happy with that."
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Katrina Berban (Seguin, Texas/New Braunfels)/Morgan Oconitrillo (Indianapolis, Ind./Homeschool/Warren Central) (1-0) recorded an 8-4 victory against Blake Nelson/Hannah Broermann at No. 1 doubles, Allison Newman (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood)/Claire Miller (Indianapolis, Ind./Homeschool) (3-3) topped Erin Kallmeyer/Kelsey Knodel in an 8-2 decision at No. 2 doubles and Jordyn Roper (Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic)/Jenna Kuntz (Edinburgh, Ind./Southwestern) (1-0) shut out Katie Fellinger/Tessa Mayes in an 8-0 decision at No. 3 doubles.
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Berban (7-0) came out with a clean 6-0, 6-0 victory against Nelson at No. 1 singles. Newman (2-4) captured a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 10-6 victory against Broermann at No. 2 singles. Miller (5-2) put together a 6-0, 6-1 win against Kallmeyer at No. 3 singles. Roper (7-0) posted a 6-0, 6-0 shutout against Fellinger at No. 4 singles. Kuntz (2-0) claimed a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory against Knodel at No. 5 singles while Grace Culver (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) (1-0) secured a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Mayes at No. 6 singles.
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The Ravens honors Culver and Newman, who are both seniors academically, for Senior Day.
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Culver joined the Ravens last Spring and competed in her first non-exhibition match for Anderson on Saturday.
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"I think I played pretty well," Culver acknowledged. "There were some hard shots and there were some short balls that I was always able to get up to them, so I think I played pretty well overall."
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Despite joining the Ravens later in her career, Culver has had no problem in finding her place with the Ravens.
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"This is my first year actually playing with this team. I have really found a family here and found a group of people that are always supportive of each other and really do care about each other. I have been able to go at this with a new perspective and working together as a team."
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Newman grinded out one of the more competitive matches on Saturday, which had multiple sets decided on a tiebreaker round.
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"I think I played pretty well," Newman recalled. "It was a tough match. I had to play a tiebreaker for the first set and for third set. The other team was really great too. Everyone out there was very nice, and they played very well. I think our team overall did really good. We were all really supporting each other throughout the match, so that also helped."
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Newman joined the Ravens in the Fall of 2016. After women's tennis did not compete in 2017, Anderson finished 8-6 during the 2018-19 season and Newman was an All-HCAC selection.
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"My tennis career here has been a roller coaster. Freshman year, we had an interim coach and sophomore year, I didn't have a team. We came back my junior year with myself, three seniors and a whole new team. This year we are growing with a lot of returners, which is really great."
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Newman also expresses the positive direction of the tennis program since Coach Beard has been at the helm.
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"We had a new coach, which was great. He is really supportive of us on and off the court and will do anything for us in a heartbeat. I'm really appreciative of my time here at AU."
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As the Ravens ride a six-match winning streak, they look to add to their success.
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"I think the goal for the rest of the year is to continue to be a family and grow together," Newman commented. "We have a lot of young players, so we want to show them the road and have them improve as much as we can before we leave for next year."
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"Every person on this team has a purpose," Culver added. "So if we keep pushing each other forward and make sure we all stay connected, we can make each other the best we can possibly be."
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Anderson clashes with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (4-1, 2-0) in HCAC action next Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Terre Haute. The Fightin' Engineers were selected third in the HCAC Preseason Poll. Anderson is still looking to get a top-two seed in the HCAC Tournament and make the HCAC Championship match. Rose-Hulman and Anderson will both be battling for conference position.
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"First and foremost, the goal was to make the championship match and we have a lot of time to figure out if that's going to happen or not," Beard acknowledged. "Rose-Hulman is going to be a big deciding factor for us. It's a winnable match, but it's definitely not going to be something that gets handed to us. We need to play well No. 1-No. 6 singles and claim our five points, which I think we'll do that. If we get the win against Rose-Hulman, we have a pretty good lockdown for claiming at least the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament."
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"I would like to make the championship," Newman stated. "We have made the conference tournament every year I have played, but it would be nice to get out of that first round."
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