MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State women's tennis (9-6, 7-2 NSIC) earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 seed Minnesota State University Moorhead (8-9, 4-5) in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament Friday, April 26 at 11:30 a.m.
 
The tournament takes place Friday-Sunday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at Heuther Family Match Pointe. First round pairings on Friday, April 26 have (2) UMary taking on (7) Winona State at 9 a.m.  At 11:30 a.m. (3) Minnesota State will take on (6) MSU Moorhead.  At 2 p.m. (1) Augustana takes on (8) St. Cloud State and the 4:30 p.m. match has (4) Sioux Falls versus (5) Minnesota Crookston. All match start times are subject to change if earlier matches run long. No matches will begin earlier than the announced start time. 
 
Semifinal matches will be played Saturday, April 27 at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., with the highest remaining seed following the quarterfinals playing in the earlier match. The championship match set for Sunday, April 28 at 10 a.m.

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CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

• Augustana has won 160 straight NSIC matches, with its last loss coming back on April 19, 2009 to Minnesota State. 
• Since joining the NSIC in 2008-09, the Viking are 167-3 in NSIC matches, have won 14 straight NSIC regular season titles and each of the last 12 NSIC Tournaments.
• The Vikings have won their last 34 NSIC Tournament matches as well.
• If both Minnesota State and Augustana win two matches, they could face one another in the championship.
• Last season, Augustana fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament 4-2 to Washburn.

 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE DRAGONS

• The Mavericks shut out MSUM 7-0 in Owatonna, Minnesota on February 17 in their only meeting. It was the first conference match of the season for both teams.
• The Dragons took No. 1 doubles 6-1 but the Mavericks won at No. 2 and No. 3, then closed out singles with straight set wins in five of six positions.
• The closest match was at No. 1. Chiara Carnelutti outlasted Luzmary Diaz Castillo 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 after dropping the first set.

 
HOW THEY GOT HERE

• UMary and Minnesota State both finished with 7-2 conference records. UMary gained the No. 2 seed after defeating MSU head-to-head 4-3 on February 18. Augustana provided MSU's only other conference loss, 7-0 on March 24 in Sioux Falls.
• Last season, the Mavericks finished 15-2 overall, 10-1 in conference play and went undefeated (3-0) at home.
• At tournament time, MSU collected 4-0 wins over Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals and UMary in the semifinals before falling in the championship 4-0 to Augustana.
• Last year, the Mavericks finished second in the conference for the first time since 2009 but were not selected to appear in the NCAA Tournament.
• The last Minnesota State conference championship was in 1989 as a member of the North Central Conference. They have also won titles in 1985 and 1986.

 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS

• Chiara Carnelutti (Cordoba, Argentina) is the only athletic senior on the roster. Named All-NSIC Second Team-Singles last year, she moved up to the No. 1 spot this fall after Lois Page graduated. Carnelutti holds a 6-6 singles record.
• Junior Freia Lawrence, from Rafael Nadal's hometown (Mallorca, Spain) plays No. 2 singles and is 5-2 at the spot. Lawrence was also All-NSIC Second Team-Singles last season and is 5-3 at No. 1 doubles when playing with junior Avery Stilwell.
• Stillwell (junior, Litchfield, Minnesota) was All-NSIC First Team-Doubles in 2022-23. At No. 3 singles, she amassed a 9-4 record.
• Head Coach Tristen Bryant-Otake (Kailua, Hawaii) has had a successful first season at the helm. She previously served as a volunteer assistant coach after concluding her Maverick playing career in 2021-22.

 
SCOUTING THE DRAGONS

• MSU Moorhead edged St. Cloud State 4-3 in the final match of the regular season April 21.
• The Dragons also have conference wins over Bemidji State, Winona State and Minnesota Duluth.
• Luzmary Diaz Castillo holds a 6-7 record at No. 1 singles but has losses in six of her last seven matches.
• Shaelyn Johnson is 7-7 at No. 2 and helped secure a point this week against St. Cloud State in three sets. She and Diaz Castillo also won at No. 1 doubles and Johnson was recognized as a top performer in the conference this week.
• The Dragons finished 4-7 in the conference last season and 1-10 a year prior.
• Head Coach Alexis Konecne is in her second season. Like Bryant-Otake, Konecne played for the Dragons before being named the head coach, first serving two years as an assistant.

 
OTHER OPPONENTS TO WATCH

• For the fifth time this season, Augustana senior Florentia Hadjigeorgiou (Deryneia, Cyprus) took home NSIC Player of the Week honors on Monday. She is 12-3 in singles and has won six straight at No. 1 for the Vikings.
• UMary could be a potential semifinal opponent for the Mavericks. Hala Hossam Awad won two matches in a 6-1 UMary win over SCSU last week at No. 2 singles and doubles. She is 9-5 in singles play this season.