No. 44 Midwestern State vs Emporia State

Monday, March 14 – 11 a.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 2-0

No. 44 Midwestern State vs No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney

Tuesday, March 15 – 10 a.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 4-0

No. 44 Midwestern State vs Hastings

Tuesday, March 15 – 2 p.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
 
WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State returns to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a handful of matches during the spring break week. The Mustangs kick off the schedule with a battle versus Emporia State on Monday, March 14 at 11 a.m. They then face No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings College on Tuesday, March 15. First serve will be at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

Midwestern State currently rides a seven-match win streak to get them to a 9-3 record. The No. 23 ranked Mustangs are 6-2 when playing at MSU Tennis Center. Their only losses were to top-rated junior colleges Seward County and Tyler Junior College.
 
Anda Ghinga ranks 40th in the nation with a 7-4 singles record. The sophomore earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Week on March 9. She is 2-1 versus other nationally-ranked opponents. She claimed a three-set win over No. 48 Marta Torres on March 5.
 
She and Hannah Yip are ranked 26thh and hold an undefeated 7-0 record at No. 1 doubles. Ghinga is 9-3 in all doubles play while Yip is 10-2. Yip also holds a 6-6 singles tally from the second line.
 
Emilija Visic is undefeated in singles play with a 7-0 record. The sophomore plays at the third, fourth and fifth spots, but is 4-0 at No. 5. She and Casie Curry have a 6-1 record with a four-match win streak.
 
Curry is 6-3 overall and 5-2 from the fourth position for the Mustangs. She and Ethne Dowling both have three-match win streaks in singles play. Dowling is 5-3 with a 4-1 record at the third spot.
 
Skylar Minns holds an 8-2 record and is 6-2 at No. 6. She won back-to-back matches last week at the fifth spot and went unfinished in the last two. She and Sydney Williams are 7-4 from the third doubles line and have won the last three matches.

AT THE HELM

Scott Linn enters his 12th season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's and women's tennis programs in 2021-22 after guiding the Mustangs to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances since arriving in Wichita Falls in the fall of 2010. The Mustangs have thrived under Linn's leadership as he revived the program to the highest level. Linn has directed the women's program to a 193-84 (.697) in his eleven seasons on campus with nine NCAA Division II postseason appearances, reaching the round of 16 in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019 while making trips to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017.

SCOUTING THE HORNETS

Emporia State is 3-3 on the season with a 0-1 away record. The Hornets have lost their last two matches to Metropolitan State of Denver and Southeastern Oklahoma.
 
ESU returns four players from last year's 8-8 team. Karen Santiago Sanchez played at the top singles spot for the Hornets. Viktoria Mackova and Kelsie Burr return as well as Emma Biggs.

SCOUTING THE LOPERS

No. 15 Nebraska-Kearney is 6-4 on the year with a 3-4 record away from home as they earned their highest national ranking in team history. The Lopers lost back-to-back matches against No. 6 Cameron and No. 24 Angelo State on March 10 and 12. UNK also dropped to No. 12 Augustana on Feb. 18
 
The Lopers took a big 7-0 win over No. 17 Drury in February. They also claimed Central Regional wins over Harding and Minnesota State.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS

Hastings has a 1-3 tally for the 2022 season with the solo victory coming at Bethany College. The Broncos then lost three straight to Colorado College, Sterling College and Tabor College.
 
Juniors Theresa Price and Samantha Worthington were nominated to the 2021 GPAC All-Conference Doubles Team. Juniors Madelyn Redding and Hannah Theisen earned doubles honorable mention.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Midwestern State is 2-0 versus Emporia State. The Mustangs took a 7-2 win over the Hornets in Tahlequah, Okla., in 1997. In 2005, MSU beat ESU by 6-3 in Topeka, Kan. This will be the first non-neutral match between the two teams.
 
MSU is 4-0 against Nebraska-Kearney and is 2-0 when playing at home. The Mustangs tallied sweeps over the Lopers in 2006 and 2017, both at MSU Tennis Center. Midwestern State went 5-2 and 5-4 versus UNK in 1998 and 2000. Both matches were in Edmond, Okla.
 
This is the first match-up between the Mustangs and the Broncos.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State begins Lone Star Conference play on Friday, March 18. The Mustangs host Arkansas-Fort Smith at MSU Tennis Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m.