MVC Round-up: Lady Vikes pick up two net wins

Valley senior Jenny Germany won three matches to take fourth place in the 63-kilogram class at the U.S. Senior Nationals. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Missouri Valley College women's tennis team extended its win streak to five matches by taking a pair of matches last week.

The Lady Vikings rolled over Lindenwood, 8-1, for their second Heart of America Conference victory Tuesday, April 7. They swept singles behind freshman Elanqua Griffin; senior Nicki Erickson of Marshall; freshmen Tershelle Burrows, Juliana Doyle and Davina Holtfreter; and junior Lindsay Tworek.

The doubles teams of Griffin-Erickson and Burrows-Doyle also won, with the Lady Lions (7-6, 2-1 HAAC) getting their lone decision at No. 3 when sophomore Deborah Kunaka and freshman Brittany Pontello defeated the Holtfreter-Tworek combo.

The next day, Valley wiped out Stephens (0-6) at home, 9-0. The line-up was the same in singles and in the top two doubles spots, Holtfreter and sophomore Shruti Bedi pairing for an 8-0 whitewash at No. 3.

The Lady Vikings (9-2, 2-0) hosted William Jewell on Wednesday, but the results have not yet been reported.

Meanwhile, the lone match for the Valley men during the same period was an 8-1 loss at Lindenwood (9-3, 2-0). The Vikings (4-6, 0-2) got their win from freshman Alvar Ribalta at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 7-5.

Track & Field

FAYETTE -- Two-time all-American Thiago Ferreira became the first Valley track and field athlete to qualify for the NAIA Outdoor Championships by placing second in the 5,000-meter race-walk Friday at the Central Methodist-ASICS Invitational.

Ferreira (22:25.37) finished only five seconds behind former national champion Patrick Stroupe, a CMU grad.

Sophomore William Coleman also claimed a silver medal in the shot put (13.95 meters) and sophomore Justin Andre was third in the hammer throw (55.72). The Vikings' two 1,600-meter relay entries finished within .70 seconds of each other in third and fourth place.

The Valley women had a pair of third-place performances, from sophomore Taylor Whitacre in the 1,500 (5:24.63) and freshman Sheena Carter in the hammer throw (44.25). Also of note was the third place in the shot put turned in by former Marshall all-stater Cortni Ervin, a freshman at Missouri.

The MVC men were sixth out of 14 teams with 58 points, while the Lady Vikings were ninth with 34 points. The host Eagles (180 points) easily won the men's title, while Baker (132) took the women's trophy.

Women's Wrestling

LAS VEGAS -- Senior Jenny Germany moved up in weight class to win three out of five matches for fourth place at 63 kilograms last Thursday in the ASICS U.S. Senior Nationals at Las Vegas.

Ranked sixth at 55 kilograms, Germany lost her first bout against sixth-ranked Tessa Plana of Oklahoma City University, 7-5, 4-1, but got revenge in the consolation semifinal round with a 5-1, 4-0 victory over Plana.

In the third-place match, Germany was beaten by No. 4 Veronica Carlson of the New York Athletic Club, 4-0, 3-0. One of Germany's two other wins was a technical fall over senior teammate Karen Howe, knocking her out of the meet.

The Lady Vikings also got an eighth-place medal from grad Courtney Martell at 55 kilograms. She won two of her five bouts.

Valley finished ninth in the team standings with six points. The Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club took the title over the NYAC, 58 to 55 points.

Up next for the Lady Vikings is the University Nationals, next Wednesday at Akron, Ohio.

Women's Golf

KANSAS CITY -- Junior Meghan Gauthier posted a pair of birdies to finish tied for 17th Tuesday in the Park Spring Invitational at the National Golf Club of Kansas City.

Gauthier shot an 86 during the first round Monday and an 88 on the second day for a 174. Senior Becky Allen led Western Illinois to the team championship with a 17-over-par 157, three strokes ahead of the pair in second place. The Westerwinds finished with a team score of 644, 15 points ahead of William Woods.

The Lady Vikings were 11th out of 14 teams at 793 points.

After Gauthier, the next-best score was the 192 turned in by sophomore Leah Bartlett for 55th place. Freshman Rachel Henke (210) was 61st and freshman Kim Whitworth (215) 65th.

Valley will play in the Baker Invitational next week.