The Augustana Women’s Tennis team has tallied a total of 22 straight victories in a row. The Vikings won a total of 9 games this year, including eight conference wins and two regional.
Augustana secured their latest victory on Saturday, Oct. 12 with an 8-1 win over Carroll in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Vikings are now 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the CCIW with the victory over the Carroll Pioneers extending the streak to 22.
A major contributor to the recent string of success for the women has come from junior Annie Timm, who has not dropped a conference dual in her two seasons as a Viking. Over the past season, Timm has a record of winning 5-1 singles and is 8-3 in doubles. The 13 wins this year have earned her the title of becoming the 30th member of Augustana’s 100th win club.
Timm’s career now marks over a 77 percent winning average that ranks seventh best in program history. Timm has won the CCIW championship twice now and earned a conference title at doubles teams with Zeana Badawi last year. She was also named the MVP of last year’s CCIW Championships.
Badawi is in the midst of her fourth and final year of play for the Vikings. This season, Badawi has won four single matches and was a part of three doubles victories. Timm has been Badawi’s partner for two of three victories, and freshman Lily Schoeck partnered with Badawi for one other victory.
“Every year I hope our team not only has a successful season, but a pleasant one. I want everyone to be able to say not only did they play their hearts out, but they had fun doing it. I try to set the expectations for the team from the beginning of season and encourage the younger side of the team to do the same.” Badawi said.
First-year Michaela Magee has led the team with 11 singles wins. She discussed the importance of maintaining a winning mindset for a team that has done nothing but win in recent years.
“I love the environment of the team. All the girls are so nice, welcoming, and encouraging on and off the court. I also think it is really cool to have such a hardworking group of girls that all have the same goal and care so much about tennis and the team as a whole.”
Junior Kalli Majewski has had plenty of success in her three years on the squad, winning 9 doubles sets and seven singles games. However, as Magee stated, tennis is a mental game, and Majewski has her own mindset when on the court.
“Personally I think I just try to bring some sort of light-heartedness to the sport. I know tennis can be mentally demanding – and physically of course – but then you have school on top of that while also trying to keep up with friends and other activities on campus. It is important that I keep that good attitude and positive mindset,” Majewski said.
During the most recent match, Augustana swept the six singles matches with the help of Timm and Badawi. Together the Vikings defeated LaBelle 7-5. As a team, the Vikings hold a record of 79 individual set wins this season alone. The women will be focusing on CCIW championships soon and hope to keep the winning streak alive for next season.
The Vikings will look to claim their second straight conference championship, their fourth in the past five years. The team will compete at the CCIW Championships on the weekend of Oct. 17 in Hanover Park, Illinois.