The University of Minnesota Duluth women's tennis team continued its road trip this weekend, with stops at the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana. Despite battling hard in all matches, the Bulldogs fell to Sioux Falls 5-2 on Saturday evening and lost 7-0 against Augustana Sunday morning.

About Saturday evening's matches, head coach Jessica Worden said that the "match performance was more solid than last weekend. The players are starting to find their strokes and feel more confident in their game. Our next focus is to work on being mentally tough and disciplined with our decision on when and where to put the ball to consistently win the rally."

UMD took one of three in doubles. Senior captain Natalie Cahill and junior Sophie Lynch played in the No. 1 doubles spot, falling 5-7. Co-captain and senior Isabel Thiner and Mallory Lithun again played the No. 2 spot, with freshman Abby Johnson and sophomore Emily Rahrick coming in with the lone doubles win in the No. 3 spot.

In singles, Natalie Cahill (No. 2) and freshman Shay Callaway (No. 6) were victorious. Sophie Lynch (No. 1), Mallory Lithun (No. 3), Emily Rahrick (No. 4) and Isabel Thiner (No. 6) took losses from Sioux Falls.

After the match, captain Natalie Cahill said, "I'm really proud of how everyone played tonight. USF has always been a tough competitor and while they outplayed us tonight, our team continues to improve and learn from each match."

UMD faced an early turnaround after a Saturday evening matchup, playing again on Sunday morning against a perennially tough competitor in the Augustana Vikings, ultimately losing 7-0.

In doubles, Natalie Cahill and Sophie Lynch again took the No. 1 spot, losing to Augustana 2-6. Mallory Lithun and Shay Callaway, playing in the No. 2 spot, lost 3-6, while Emily Rahrick and Abby Johnson in the No. 3 spot would lose 0-6.

Despite advances in their play, the Bulldogs would ultimately lose all six singles matches on Sunday, with Sophie Lynch in the No. 1 spot, Natalie Cahill in the No. 2 spot, Mallory Lithun in the No. 3 spot, Emily Rahrick in the No. 4 spot, Shay Callaway in the No. 5 spot, and Abby Johnson making her collegiate debut in singles at the No. 6 spot.

Said head coach Jessica Worden, "Our matches with Augustana are always tough but one of the team's favorite teams to compete against. We were able to rise up a level in play in both singles and doubles. We were aggressive at the net in doubles and baseline grinders in singles."

Worden also noted that despite the losses, individual players made decisive gains this weekend: "Abby played assertively and smartly in her first career singles matches. Her serves were on point and it was great to see her control the point by taking the ball on the rise. Emily played some of the best tennis of her career this weekend. Her opponent moved well, but Emily was able to battle by moving the ball and staying consistent throughout both sets."

Senior captain Isabel Thiner commented, "It's always fun to play a tough team. We came out really strong in doubles and were able to play aggressive. We were able to carry that confidence into singles and were able to play well and try some new things."

The Bulldogs will open up a four-match homestand next weekend, playing host to MSU-Moorhead and University of Mary at the Duluth Indoor Sports Center on February 27th and 28th, respectively. Said Coach Jessica Worden, "We are excited to host our first matches this weekend! These will be our two most decisive matches of the season to determine our place at the conference tournament." 

See the full schedule here.