The UND men’s and women’s tennis team traveled to Sioux Falls this past weekend to take on the Augustana Vikings in their season opener. The men’s season went off without a hitch as they swept the Vikings in both matches. The women struggled in theirs, losing 5-2. 

Men 

The men started off strong in their first match, capturing the doubles point 2-1. Johnatan Parat and Cian McDonnel paired nicely, easily dispatching their opponents 6-0. Petro Alex partnered with Danny DeNike to win 6-4 at the 3 doubles spot to give the Fighting Hawks the point. The only loss of the day came at number 1 doubles, Lucas Percy and Edmound Aynedjian lost 6-3 to Augustana’s top doubles team. 

The Hawks followed their strong doubles with even better singles play. UND won at every position, with a notable performance coming from Parat. He didn’t lose a single game in his win over Augustana’s top player Cam Damgaard, earning an easy 6-0 6-0 victory. This was his tenth straight win for UND since the start of the 2020 season. 

DeNike also had a strong performance. He won in dramatic fashion, earning a triumphant 3-set victory over AU’s sixth player Tory Schafer 1-6, 6-3, 10-5. This was his first match since joining the Hawks this spring. His win gave UND a 7-0 over Augustana. 

The second match had the same start as the first, with the Hawks winning the doubles point 2-1. Parat paired with Aynedjian this time to win 7-5 at number 2 doubles. Alex and DeNike partnered again, also winning 7-5 at 3. The only loss came at the one slot, with Percy and McDonnel losing 5-7.  

The Hawks again dominated singles play, winning 5 of 6 contests. The only loss came on court 6, where DeNike lost 1-6, 2-6. 

This concluded play on the weekend for the men. They won both matches, only dropping one point. This puts them 2-0 overall.   

Women 

The women struggled in the opening doubles play, conceding the point 0-3. The Hawks also struggled to gain any ground in singles, losing 4 of 6 matches. 

One of the Fighting Hawks’ wins came from UND newcomer Sapir Sela. Sela battled in her first match for UND to triumph in 3 sets 6-2, 6-7 10-6 over Augustana’s Laura Arle Vieya at the 2 position. 

UND’s other win came from team captain Allie Ochoterena. Ochoterena fought back from a set down to prevail in 3 sets 6-7 6-1 10-7. This was her tenth singles win in dual competition since joining UND.  

Nina Zdravkovic also had a good showing. Zdravkovic won her first set 7-5 before falling 2-6 2-10 in the final two sets to the Vikings’ Aleksandr Kistanova. This concluded play for the women. They went 0-3 in doubles play and lost 2-5 overall.  

Both the men and the women will be back in action next weekend. The women will travel to Des Moines where they will face off against the University of Colorado Boulder Buffalos. The men will head off to Dekalb, Ill to take on the University of Northern Illinois Huskies. 

Alex Mailes is a Dakota Student Sports Writer. He can be reached at [email protected]