CINCINNATI – Ignacio Ortiz won a dramatic third-set victory over Southern Indiana's Diego Gimenez to give the Northern Kentucky University men's tennis team a dramatic 5-4 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Friday.
The NKU women posted a 9-0 victory over the Screaming Eagles.
After Ortiz (8-7) dropped the first set in an 8-6 tiebreaker, he rallied back to post a 7-5 win in the second set and went toe-to-toe with Giminez in the third, keeping the score level at 4-4 before picking up a break in the ninth game and clinching the match, 6-4, without surrendering a point in the deciding game of the No. 1 singles flight.
Ricardo Weaver (11-5) returned to action after a three-match hiatus to post a 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) victory over Ben Hamm in No. 4 singles. Will Knoll (13-6) and Jason Kramer (11-7) also picked up straight-set victories to lead the Norse (13-7, 6-2 GLVC) to victory.
In doubles action, Kramer teamed with Felipe Rossetti to post NKU's only doubles victory, taking a 7-3 tiebreaker victory over USI's Ben Roeser and Nathan Lattimer. Kramer and Rossetti are 2-1 on the season.
On the women's side the Norse (15-6, 7-1 GLVC), ranked No. 34 in Division II and fourth in the Midwest Region, were near perfect in their dispatching of the Screaming Eagles (4-11, 4-4 GLVC), as Jenny Hand and Ivana Misic were the only doubles pair to see a significant bump in the road, defeating Jennie LaBonte and Emily Schum by an 8-6 score.
On the singles side, Stephanie Isaacs (14-6) battled against USI's Michelle Girgenti in the No. 2 singles flight, taking the first set, 6-0, before dropping the tiebreaker in the second set, 7-4. With the match decided, Isaacs got the individual victory in a 10-7 third-set supertiebreaker.
In No. 3 singles, Michelle Schirmann (11-9) took a hard-fought victory over Gretchen Cantwell, 6-3, 7-5, to claim her third straight victory after taking NKU's only point against Xavier in a 6-1 loss on Wednesday.
Kristen Sunday ran her season record to .500 (10-10) with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Reilly Ackerman while Maggie Koetter (19-2) continued her torrid streak with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Jodie Petty.
With the wins, the NKU tennis teams secure their spots in the GLVC Tournament, set for April 24-25 in St. Louis, Mo.
The Norse head to Owensboro, Ky., next weekend in split-squad action. The women face Kentucky Wesleyan in GLVC play while the men take on Brescia in non-conference action.
