University of Jamestown Women's Tennis Splits Weekend; Van Zeijl Sisters Stay Unbeaten in Doubles

Julie and Bodil van Zeijl extended their unbeaten doubles record to 7-0 over the weekend, the standout thread in a split for the University of Jamestown women's tennis team that saw the Jimmies roll past Winona State on Friday before falling to Minnesota State on Saturday at the Two Rivers Activity Center.

The two matches, played March 20-21, were the only home dates on UJ's schedule this season.

On Friday, the Jimmies dispatched Winona State 6-1, winning two of three doubles matches and five of six singles contests. Julie and Bodil van Zeijl set the tone in doubles with a 6-0 shutout of Lainy Ristau and Ally Burger. Mariia Sharandachenko and Anna Sharandachenko added a 6-4 doubles win over Izabel Barr and Brooke McDonald, with Winona State's Nikita Agrawal and Debbie Ogdahl taking the third doubles point over Sydney Friesen and Laia Vallespi, 6-2.

The singles portion was nearly as decisive. Anna Sharandachenko did not drop a game, beating Ally Burger 6-0, 6-0. Mariia Sharandachenko defeated Barr 6-0, 7-5. Both van Zeijl sisters won their singles matches as well, with Julie topping Ristau 6-4, 7-5 and Bodil beating Agrawal 6-2, 7-5. Vallespi added a 7-5, 6-2 win over Kate Velander. Friesen provided the lone Winona State singles point, falling to Ogdahl 6-2, 7-6.

Minnesota State proved a tougher test Saturday. The van Zeijl sisters again won doubles, beating Julia Gurholt and McKenna DeMarce 7-5, but MSU's Lucie Sliskova and Alma Vazquez blanked Friesen and Vallespi 6-0, and Taina Cordeiro and Amanda Blanco-Epple took the third doubles match over the Sharandachenko pair 6-3, giving Minnesota State a 2-1 edge out of doubles.

The Mavericks extended that lead in singles. Sliskova beat Mariia Sharandachenko 6-1, 6-2; Vazquez took down Anna Sharandachenko 6-4, 6-4; Cordeiro swept Friesen 6-2, 6-0; and Blanco-Epple outlasted Vallespi in three sets, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. The van Zeijl sisters were the only Jimmies to win singles on Saturday, with Julie beating Gurholt 6-4, 6-2 and Bodil defeating DeMarce 6-2, 6-3. Minnesota State took the match 6-2.

Through both matches, the van Zeijl sisters won every doubles set they played, going 6-0 against Winona State and 7-5 against Minnesota State to push their season doubles record to 7-0.