Huskers Show Depth at Day One of Minnesota Invitational

Minneapolis, Minn. – Day one of the action-packed Minnesota Invitational has been completed and several Huskers had excellent days on the court.

With eight teams competing in the invitational, NU players have been divided into several different flights in order to face new competition. Doubles pairings for the weekend consist of Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad, Vasanti Shinde/Jessica Aragon and Elizabeth Gould/Marina Cozac. Emma Worley, a junior from Northville, Mich., is competing in singles play only.

Reifeis and Haakenstad, the junior doubles duo who are looking to top their 12-7 record together last season, are off to a great start in their doubles flight. They defeated Palumbo/Walczak (Drake) 6-4 in round one of Doubles Flight D. They followed that up with a 7-6 win over Kreinis/Emme (MN) to advance to the final.

Freshman Jessica Aragon and her partner, Vasanti Shinde, beat Neville/Haleas (Drake) 6-1 in round one of Doubles Flight E. They lost to Grib/Timakova (ISU) 6-2 in their semifinal match and will play Hart/Zang (MN) in the third round of the double elimination bracket. If they win their third round game, they will need to beat Grib/Timakova twice to win Flight E.

The third doubles pair, Elizabeth Gould and Marina Cozac, also won their quarterfinal match before falling short in the semifinals of Flight F. They def. Finnegan/Revenig 6-4 (UND) before dropping their second match 6-1 to Huber/Merzbacher (MN). The pair of seniors will have to win their third round match and beat Huber/Merzbacher twice to win Flight F.

In singles play, Worley, Haakenstad, Reifeis, Shinde and Aragon all played their first match in eight-person flights. Each flight is a triple-knockout competition, where each girl needs three losses to be eliminated. Gould and Cozac are playing in a six-person round-robin flight. They will play five matches in the next three days as a part of the round-robin.

Shinde, a senior from Pune, India, got off to a great start in Singles Flight A as she outlasted Reagan Lynch (N. Iowa) 6-0, 6-3 in the first round. She competes in the semifinals of her flight tomorrow morning at noon against Maty Cancini (ISU).

Claire Reifeis and Chanhassen, Minn. native Hayley Haakenstad both played first round matches in Singles Flight B today. Reifeis def. Daria Walczak (Drake) 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals, where she takes on Thea Rice (Ark.) at noon tomorrow. Haakenstad fell 7-6 (4), 6-3 in a thriller to Ekaterina Grib (ISU). She competes tomorrow at noon against Natalie Kmoskova (UND).

In Singles Flight D, Jessica Aragon def. Harri Proudfoot (N. Iowa), 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. She faces-off against Camila Vargas Gomez (MN) at noon tomorrow. Emma Worley also won her first match in Singles Flight E as she def. Zahra Finnigan (UND), 6-4, 6-3. Worley plays Kalyssa Hall (MN) at noon tomorrow in the semifinals.

Marina Cozac won her first match in Singles Flight F after she def. Caroline Gibbens (ISU), 6-1, 6-4. Elizabeth Gould dropped her first match in Flight F, losing to Laura Janickova (USD), 6-1, 6-0. Both girls play again at noon tomorrow.

Matches begin tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. and can be streamed live from the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis center at the following link.

Results

Singles (Flight A)

Vasanti Shinde (NEB) def. Reagan Lynch (N. Iowa) 6-0, 6-3

Singles (Flight B)

Claire Reifeis (NEB) def. Daria Walczak (Drake) 6-1, 6-4

Natalie Kmoskova (UND) def. Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) 7-6 (4), 6-3

Singles (Flight D)

Jessica Aragon (NEB) def. Harri Proudfoot (N. Iowa) 6-4, 6-1

Singles (Flight E)

Emma Worley (NEB) def. Zahra Finnigan (UND) 6-4, 6-3.

Singles (Flight F)

Marina Cozac (NEB) def. Caroline Gibbens (ISU), 6-1, 6-4

Laura Janickova (USD) def. Elizabeth Gould (NEB) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles (Flight D)

Quarterfinals: Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) def. Palumbo/Walczak (Drake) 6-4

Semifinals: Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) def. Kreinis/Emme (MN) 7-6

Doubles (Flight E)

Quarterfinals: Jessica Aragon/Vasanti Shinde (NEB) def. Neville/Haleas (Drake) 6-1

Semifinals: Grib/Timakova (ISU) def. Jessica Aragon/Vasanti Shinde (NEB) 6-2

Doubles (Flight F)

Quarterfinals: Marina Cozac/Elizabeth Gould (NEB) def. Finnegan/Revenig (UND) 6-4

Semifinals: Huber/Merzbacher (MN) def. Marina Cozac/Elizabeth Gould (NEB) 6-1