THIS WEEKEND
The University of Mary Tennis team rides into the NSIC Championships this weekend on a roll. The Marauders finished their regular season competition on a five-match winning streak for a 10-5 overall record and 9-2 in the Northern Sun. Their impressive play against conference opponents earns them the third seed in the tournament and an opening-round matchup against Winona State University. 

ROLLING RAUDS
Four Marauders enter the tournament with winning records in singles play. Each of the three doubles teams also has winning records. 

• Chong & Freitag - 10-4 (6-3 NSIC)
• Mohamed & Awad - 7-6 (6-3 NSIC)
• Needham & Purpura - 9-6 (6-4 NSIC)

Chloe Chong enters as the Marauders #1 singles player. The returning first-team All-NSIC Singles player from Selangor, Malaysia is 8-5 overall in singles and 5-3 in NSIC matches. 

Doaa Farouk Mohamed has had another impressive year after earning second-team All-NSIC in doubles in 2022. Mohamed, the Marauders #2 in singles, is 12-2 overall and 9-0 in conference play. 

Hala Hossam Awad has made a major impact as a true freshman this season. Moving up to #3 singles in the final week of play, Awad is 14-1 overall, 10-0 in the NSIC, and undefeated versus DII opponents. 

Ilona Freitag, a returning All-NSIC second-team player in singles, enters the weekend 10-5 overall and 7-3 in conference play. 

Emily Needham ended the regular season on a high note winning her past three matches in impressive fashion. The sophomore from Cheyenne, WY is a returning second-team All-NSIC player in doubles. 

Samantha Purpura has battled tough in singles as well as doubles with Needham. She enters the tournament after an impressive victory in the Upper Iowa matchup. 

ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
Winona State enters the tournament as the sixth seed after a 9-8 season with a 6-5 record in the Northern Sun. The Marauders and Warriors meet again just six days after their most recent match on April 15. The Marauders defeated the Warriors 4-3 after taking over in the singles portion. 

Beth Murman is the #1 singles player for the Warriors with a 10-7 overall record as a senior. The Warriors have also enjoyed winning seasons thus far from Rachel Kelly (12-5) and Ally Burger (8-7). 

TOURNAMENT INFO
The NSIC Championships will be played out April 21-23 at the Huether Family Match Pointe facility in Sioux Falls, SD. Live video coverage for the matches will be available here. Northern Sun Championship Central can be found here. 

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