By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
EMPORIA, Kan. – Fort Hays State Tennis fell by a score of 7-0 in conference action to Emporia State on Sunday. Stefany Stemmer and Kylie Aufdengarten were the only Tigers to win a match, pairing at No. 3 doubles for a 6-4 win, but the Hornets claimed the doubles team point by winning the other two contests. FHSU is now 5-8 overall, 0-4 in the MIAA, while ESU moved to 3-8 overall, 1-2 in the MIAA.
Aside from Stemmer and Aufdengarten winning their doubles contest, the Tigers were competitive in the other two doubles matches. Both the No. 1 team of Irina Alfonso/Maria Paz Diaz and the No. 2 team of Fiorella Mendez and Grace Unruh won three games within their matches.
Emporia State claimed all singles matches in straight sets. The closest contest was a 6-4, 6-3 loss for Alfonso at the No. 2 position. Unruh won six games within her match at the No. 6 position, and Mendez won five games within her match at the No. 3 position. Stemmer (No. 1), Paz Diaz (No. 4), and Aufdengarten all won three games within their matches.
The Tigers head back on the road Wednesday (Mar. 29) to face McPherson College in McPherson, Kan., before returning home for MIAA matches against Central Oklahoma (Mar. 31) and Northeastern State (Apr. 2).
Saturday
WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State was outscored 6-1 on Saturday (Mar. 25) by the Newman Jets in their third MIAA conference contest of the spring. The win for the Jets improved their overall record to 8-5, 1-2 MIAA, while the Tigers moved to 5-7 overall, 0-3 in conference play. Irina Alfonso scored the lone point for Fort Hays State after outlasting her opponent at the No. 2 position.
The Newman Jets swept the Tigers in the three doubles pairings, but Fort Hays was able to take games within each of the three matches, including three games for Grace Unruh and Fiorella Mendez (No. 2).
Irina Alfonso (No. 2) fought her way to victory in singles play, holding off Ani Zeikidze in a tiebreaker set 10-5. Alfonso won set one 6-3, but Zeikideze forced the tiebreaker with a 6-2 win in set two. The Tigers were close to gaining another point at the No. 1 singles position after Stefany Stemmer also went to a decisive tiebreaker set, falling 10-5.
Mendez (No. 3) won a total of seven games against her opponent in singles play with scores of 6-3, 6-4. Maria Paz Diaz (No. 4) also had success, but came up short of victory with scores of 6-3, 7-5. Kylie Aufdengarten (No. 5) won two games and Grace Unruh (No. 6) won six games, but both fell in straight sets.