Completed Event: Women's Tennis versus Omaha on April 15, 2018 , Loss , 0, to, 7
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FINAL
Women's Tennis
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South Dakota State University Athletics
SDSU Ready For USD, First Home Match Since 2008
4/9/2015 4:50:00 PM | Women's Tennis
BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State tennis coach Michael Engdahl didn't downplay the importance of the women's team's match against rival South Dakota this Saturday.
“It's huge,” Engdahl said. “This match means everything. We have a lot of positive things happening in our program, and people have only been able to read about it on GoJacks.com. This will give us the chance to show people what we're all about.”
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to take on the Coyotes at 1 p.m. at Hillcrest Park. The last time South Dakota State hosted an official match in Brookings, Engdahl was a junior on the men's tennis team. On April 30, 2008, the men and women both played Division II Sioux Falls at Hillcrest Park, winning by a combined margin of 13-5.
"That's crazy; it makes me feel kind of old,” Engdahl said, with a chuckle, when told that fact. "Playing at home is something I certainly remember, and it's something that all college players should have the opportunity to experience.”
In 2011, the women's team hosted a Summit League cluster in Sioux Falls, but Engdahl said that wasn't the same as hosting a match in Brookings. And all of the current Jackrabbits were in high school back then.
For two years, the junior class spent the spring season on the road. They played in Brookings once, taking on North Dakota in a fall exhibition match their freshman season. Last year, the Jackrabbit Invite was canceled because of inclement weather.
“I'm super excited,” junior Tacy Haws-Lay said. “It's the first official home match since I've been here, and it's really cool that it's against USD. It makes it even more important.”
And more than state bragging rights and a point in the South Dakota Showdown Series will be on the line. Right now, South Dakota State is third in the Summit League with a record of 2-1. South Dakota is two spots back, sitting at 2-2. A win would put the Jackrabbits in better position to secure a top-four seed in the Summit League Tournament.
While Engdahl admitted that the Jackrabbits might experience more pre-match jitters than they usually do, he said that the team's depth puts them in a position to record their 11th win of the season.
“The strength of our team is our depth,” Engdahl said, pointing out every Jackrabbit has a singles record at or above .500. “If one girl is having a bad day, five girls can pick her up. We don't have a lot of days where we're all having a bad day.”
Asked to highlight a player to watch from both teams, Engdahl chose Iasmin Rosa and Yuliya Sidenko. Both Rosa and Sidenko have already reached the 12-win plateau this season and have lost a combined three times.
“Yuliya has played second, third and fourth singles and has only lost once; that speaks for itself,” Engdahl said. “As for Iasmin, she's been really consistent the entire year. We put her at first singles full time starting in February, and she rose to the occasion. She's been in every single match.”
At doubles, South Dakota has used more than 10 different pairings, making it hard to predict who will take the court Saturday. South Dakota State boasts one of the top first doubles pairings in the Summit League in Rosa and Ffion Davies.
Engdahl said that Rosa and Davies have been so effective together because they constantly communicate and compliment each other in both style of play and personality. With a record of 11-2, the duo needs four wins to tie the single-season Division I record, set by Davies and Jenny Blackburne in 2012-13.
In the end, the Jackrabbits are ready to take their home court and show the Brookings community how much their program has improved in the past seven years.
“It should be a great match,” Engdahl said. “Our program has come a long way since 2008, and we're going to show that.”
By Jen Dobias
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