MINNETONKA, Minn. – Augustana women's tennis won its third straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament championship with a 5-2 defeat of Winona State on Sunday afternoon. The Vikings have compiled a 21-2 record on the season and earned the NSIC's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament with this win.
 
The Vikings can now pair their tournament title with the regular season championship they earned with a 12-0 finish during conference play. 
 
Early in the match, the Vikings faced their first team deficit against Division II competition when the Warriors took two of the three doubles matches. 
 
Heather Sullivan and Jenna Helleberg fell 8-5 at No. 3 doubles and Katie Jesperson and Michelle Wadas followed with a 8-4 defeat at the top doubles spot.  Jessa Richards and Hannah Gebauer pulled the Vikings within one game with an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles.
 
Gebauer wouldn't let the Vikings trail for long, dispatching her No. 4 singles opponent 6-1, 6-0 to even the team score at 2-2.  Helleberg gave the Vikings their first lead with a crushing win at No. 6 singles.  Helleberg dropped her opponent 6-0, 6-2 to put the Vikings up 3-2.
 
Then the two Vikings ranked in the top 20 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Central Region rankings carried Augustana to its third straight title. 
 
Richards got the Vikings one match closer to the team win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles.  Jesperson then closed the door on WSU's title chances with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the top singles flight.

Augustana now turns its focus to the NCAA Central Region Tournament where they are currently the No. 4 seed. The NCAA Selection show will air on www.NCAA.com on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m.

TIE-BREAKER - There was a three way tie in the final standings for sixth place between the University of Mary, the University of Sioux Falls and Upper Iowa University.  The three teams all split head-to-head, had identical records against the other teams in the league and identical scores in their matches against each other.  Sioux Falls was awards the eight seed following a coin flip.  Upper Iowa was the sixth seed via a head-to-head win versus U-Mary during the regular season.

NOTE: The winner of the NSIC Women’s Tennis Tournament and the MIAA Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament, with the remaining two spots being awarded on an at-large basis.  The NCAA DII Central Region Tournament will take place on campuses on April 27-30.  The NCAA DII Championships (Final 16) will take place on May 8-11 at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz. The NCAA Women's Tennis selection show will air on www.NCAA.com on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. (CDT).