Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Paige Janka hits a return during their meet against Northwestern (Iowa) on Wednesday. The Mustangs defeated the Raiders 8-1.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University tennis team got off to a hot start to their fall season earlier this week with a pair of victories on the road. As the team returned home for the first time Wednesday, they looked to keep their play and their intensity just as fiery.

The Mustangs made sure Northwestern (Iowa) didn’t douse their spirits, as SMSU rolled past the Raiders 8-1 in its home opener at Marshall High School.

SMSU coach Andrew Cobb said it was nice to be able to return home and have a strong support from their fans and was pleased with their overall performance.

“It was great; this was obviously a great home opener for us and we had a great crowd,” Cobb said. “It was good to see what we’ve done in practice has carried over the past couple of matches and we’ve been able to perform well.”

In doubles play, the SMSU duo of Olivia Watzke and Hannah Starke got things started with an 8-6 win at the No. 1 spot. Cora Delich and Gabby Potthoff then took command of their match at the No. 2 spot and never looked back, claiming an 8-1 victory. The Mustangs then closed out the doubles portion of the match with a forfeit victory to net the sweep.

SMSU then switched to singles play and saw similar success. Delich went toe-to-toe with the Raiders’ Jacque Ingram at the No. 1 spot, with Delich ultimately prevailing 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6). NWC won its only match of the day at the No. 2 spot as Watzke fell to Zoe Holscher 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-1). The Mustangs would battle back, however, earning victories the rest of the way.

Starke swept over Rosehelen Cordova 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot and Potthoff cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Emma Van Drie in the No. 4 spot. Paige Janka defeated Abby Petrick 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 5 spot before SMSU earned another forfeit, this time at the No. 6 singles slot to cement the match victory.

Cobb said their key during their match was their ability to close points at the net and saw that on both sides of the court against Northwestern.

“I think they (Northwestern) were strong at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and gave us a lot of opportunities to work on closing the net away,” Cobb said. “We were successful at that and I think the singles matches, specifically with Paige at No. 5 singles, she did a great job of closing the net away and just taking time away from her opponent which is something we’ve been working on in practice.”

As a first-year coach for the Mustangs, Cobb said his transition into the program has been a smooth one and is proud to see that his players are putting in time on and off the court to improve and are willing to learn and become more confident with each workout/practice/match.

“They’re a great group of girls and they’re extremely hungry to continue to improve on the court, so they put the work in off the court which has come to fruition. We performed really well at the Gustie Invite and did well at our first fall match at the River Falls by winning two matches. All the workouts, conditioning sessions and practices are coming through and it’s great they are seeing that and believing in themselves and being confident in their shots and games and being comfortable in their box of talent,” Cobb said. “For me as a coach, it’s been great to just encourage them to be comfortable and believe in themselves and just trust what they have because they’re great players and have a good foundation and they’re absorbing and learning everything which is really nice.”

SMSU (3-0) will continue play with a matchup against Bethany Lutheran College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Cobb said their biggest takeaway is working on returning serves and maintaining their high level of energy across both singles and doubles play.

“One thing that we do need to work on is returning serves and actually finishing the point at the net in doubles and just continuing to bring the energy that we had in doubles over to singles and building on that,” Cobb said.