MANDAN, ND - The first official matchup in the Mandan Tennis Center took place Sunday afternoon to an excellent turnout. In the season opener on their new home court, the University of Mary Tennis team (1-0) took a 5-2 victory over Minnesota State University Moorhead (1-1). 

The event started with doubles competition. Chloe Chong and Ilona Freitag once again paired up as the Marauders #1 doubles team, and the sophomore duo was victorious 6-3. Doaa Farouk Mohamed and Hala Hossam Awad picked up their first career victory together as the #2 doubles team by another 6-3 margin. Emily Needham and Samantha Purpura battled hard together but fell 7-5 in the #3 doubles match. 

The Marauders put on another great display in the singles matchups. Doaa Farouk Mohamed persevered in her first career #1 matchup, earning a 7-5, 7-6 victory over Shaelyn Johnson in a back-and-forth marathon. 

Returning first-team All-NSIC player Chloe Chong won another great matchup 6-2, 6-3 in #2 singles over Tiannah Gu. 

The Marauders dominated the #3 and #4 singles matchups. Ilona Freitag won decisively 6-1, 6-0 over Tia Dykema. In her collegiate debut, Hala Hossam Awad looked strong with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Marissa Burian. 

Claira Nemmers defeated Emily Needham due to opponent retirement in the #5 singles matchup. Samantha Purpura battled but fell 0-6, 1-6 in the #6 singles matchups. 

UP NEXT
After a strong season opener, the UMary Tennis team will venture to Virginia, MN for a three-match stay February 24-26. The Marauders square off against Gustavus Adolphus College (1-4) on Friday at 5:30 pm. UMary then opens conference action in the Northern Sun against Minnesota Duluth (4-0, 1-0 NSIC) Saturday at 11 am, and St. Cloud State (1-1, 0-1 NSIC) on Sunday at 9 am.  

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