URBANDALE, Iowa – A gutsy performance from South Dakota women's tennis team resulted in Sunday's 4-3 dual win over Missouri State in a neutral-site match played inside Life Time Fitness.
 
The Coyotes (1-1) come home from a season-opening road trip with a split after suffering a narrow 4-2 loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Grace Chadick's 6-4 win in the third set on Sunday clinched the victory for South Dakota.
 
"Hard earned win for the team today," coach Brett Barnett said. "Missouri State pushed us to the limit. I thought they played a great match and competed well. 
 
"We played very good doubles and won a quick point which ended up being huge."
 
South Dakota got off to a strong start against Missouri State, claiming the doubles point by winning the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches with identical 6-2 scores.
 
Sorcha Caves and Selena Bird teamed for the win at No. 2 doubles while Anna Medvyedyeva and Chadick claimed the No. 3 doubles win. The No. 1 doubles team of Amanda de Oliveira and Paige Alter were leading 5-2 when the point was won.
 
The teams split the six singles matches with three wins apiece so it all came down to Chadick, a junior, who rallied after dropping to first set to win sets two and three by 6-4 scores.
 
Bird, a sophomore, moved to 2-0 in the dual season with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles while classmate Medvyedyeva also moved to 2-0 with her 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles.
 
"Selena and Anna came up big again and got us to three points," said Barnett. "We didn't play great on a couple courts and didn't handle some uncomfortable moments well but we'll get better at that after more matches. 
 
"Grace came up huge to get us the clinch.  She battles so hard each match and played great to get us the win.  We've got to keep improving and build on gutting out a tough match."
 
South Dakota faces a three-match weekend ahead with a pair of matches Friday inside Huether Family Match Pointe in Sioux Falls where they will face Sioux Falls at 9 a.m. and Mount Marty at 1 p.m. The team hits the road for Sunday's match at Kansas State.