Women's Tennis Season Begins
Saturday, February 06, 2010

Andy Sorensen

St. Peter, Minn. - The women’s tennis season got off to a swinging start Friday night as the Vikings faced off against cross-town rival and regionally ranked MSU, Mankato. The Vikings dropped the match 9-0 to the Mavericks.

Among the bright spots for the Vikings was Brooke Osmundson (Mapleton, Minn./Maple River) in singles giving her competitor a good fight losing 6-1, 7-5.

The Vikings host Martin Luther and Minnesota-Duluth in St. Peter Saturday.

Women’s tennis achieves winning season in 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Joseph Baer

Mankato, Minn.—The Bethany women’s tennis team has improved every year since the team went winless in 2005, and their 2009 season proved to be their most successful yet. The Vikings finished the season with a record of 7-5 (5-4 UMAC). They also placed third place in the conference regular season and fourth in the postseason tournament.

The team’s 1-2-3 punch of Elizabeth Kopacek (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo), Caitlyn Felthous (Pine River, Minn./Pequot Lakes), and Meaghan Dahlke (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) all finished the year with even records of 7-7 in singles matches. Kopacek and Dahlke were also named to the UMAC All-Conference First Team. The team’s number four, Madara Matveja (Kekava, Latvia/Riga Secondary), had a successful season, finishing 8-6 in singles play. Matveja also reached the No. 4 singles championship in the postseason tournament before finishing runner-up. Kayln Ivers (Faribault, Minn./Faribault) finished the year 6-7, while Laura Gehlhar (Hager City, Wis./St. Croix Lutheran) was 3-7 in singles matches.

The Vikings also finished with a .500 record of 21-21 in all doubles matches, with Felthous and Kopacek leading the way with six doubles wins together.

Coach Adolph Harstad noted, “The team exceeded expectation with the best record for Bethany women’s tennis in years, I received great attitude and cooperation from this team.” With only one player on the way out and some strong recruits coming in, Coach Harstad expects to see an even better women’s tennis team in 2010.

Women's tennis finishes fourth in UMAC Tournament
Sunday, May 03, 2009

Elizabeth Kopacek

Minneapolis, Minn.—The Bethany women’s tennis team brought their season to a close at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tennis Championship Tournament at the Baseline Center on Saturday, taking fourth place in post season play.

On day one of the two-day tournament, Madara Matveja (Kekava, Latvia/Riga Secondary) was the sole Bethany player to secure a spot in the championship match on Saturday at No. 4 singles. Matveja defeated Jodi Roy of Minnesota-Morris by a score of 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Dana Smith of Northwestern by a score of 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals. Elizabeth Kopacek (No. 1 singles, Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo), Caitlyn Felthous (No. 2, Pine River, Minn./Pequot Lakes), Meaghan Dahlke (No. 3, Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and Kalyn Ivers (No. 5, Faribault, Minn./Faribault) each won in the quarterfinals but lost in the semifinals.

On day two, Matveja took on Angela Shields of St. Scholastica in the No. 4 singles championship game and lost by a score of 6-1, 6-4.

The Vikings finished the tournament with nine points which put them in fourth place. In regualr season play, Bethany finished third in the UMAC with a 6-4 conference record and 7-5 record overall.