FHSU Athletics
MCPHERSON, Kan. – Fort Hays State Tennis picked up a 5-2 non-conference win on Wednesday in McPherson. The Tigers and Bulldogs had five matches on the day decided in the tiebreaker set, Fort Hays State prevailing in four of them. The Tigers are now 6-8 overall, 0-4 in the MIAA, while McPherson drops to 4-10, 1-0 in KCAC play.
Irina Alfonso and Maria Paz Diaz made quick work together in their doubles match at the No. 1 position, beating their opponents by a score of 6-2. After winning together a few days ago in Emporia the No. 3 doubles team of Stefany Stemmer and Kylie Aufdengarten won their second doubles match in a row on Wednesday to help the team claim the doubles point. The duo shutout their opponents in the tiebreaker set, 7-0.
Stemmer (No. 1) and Alfonso (No. 2) were both taken down in singles play by the Bulldogs. Alfonso came up just shy, falling 10-8 in the tiebreaker.
The Tigers were able to take each of the four remaining singles points left in the competition. Fiorella Mendez (No. 3) collected the first singles win for the team, defeating Vanessa Hofer 10-6 in the extra set. Paz Diaz pulled away from her opponent in the tiebreaker to win another point for the team, 10-3. Aufdengarten (No. 5) as well went into a tiebreaker set, clinching it with a 10-5 score.
Fort Hays State had the most dominating win of the day at the No. 6 singles position after Grace Unruh took down her opponent in straight sets, 6-1 in both.
The Tigers are set to host two conference opponents over the weekend beginning on Saturday (Apr. 1) against Central Oklahoma. Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The team will finish the weekend with a match versus Northeastern State on Sunday (Apr. 2) at 11 a.m.