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.
 
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.
 
"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."
 
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.
 
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.
 
The Ravens honors Culver and Newman, who are both seniors academically, for Senior Day.
 
Culver joined the Ravens last Spring and competed in her first non-exhibition match for Anderson on Saturday.
 
"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."
 
Despite joining the Ravens later in her career, Culver has had no problem in finding her place with the Ravens.
 
"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."
 
Newman grinded out one of the more competitive matches on Saturday, which had multiple sets decided on a tiebreaker round.
 
"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."
 
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.
 
"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."
 
Newman also expresses the positive direction of the tennis program since Coach Beard has been at the helm.
 
"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."
 
As the Ravens ride a six-match winning streak, they look to add to their success.
 
"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."
 
"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."
 
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.
 
"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."
 
"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."