FARGO, N.D. – MSU Moorhead picked up a valuable conference win on Saturday afternoon as the Dragons surged past Upper Iowa 6-1.
 
MSUM moved to 8-9 on the year with the win and one match remaining in the 2022-23 regular season. 

The Dragons were able to cruise to the team doubles point thanks to wins at the number one and number two spots. The team of Marissa Burian and Claire Nemmers won by forfeit, giving MSUM an early route to the point. Shaelyn Johnson and Tia Dykema moved their doubles record to 9-4 with a 6-3 win in the number one spot to fully secure the team point. For good measure, the team of Madison Bell and Tiannah Gu would win 6-2 to nab their fifth doubles victory of the year.

MSUM would go on to take four of five singles matches with Bell getting a win via forfeit. Johnson was able to take care of business in number one singles with a straight sets (6-3, 6-4) win over Varvara Ogorodnikova, giving the junior her ninth singles win this season. Tiannah Gu would battle for a tiebreaker win over Johanne Vallee with Gu taking the first set 6-3 before falling 6-3 in the second set. The freshman rallied after the loss to command the third set 10-3 for her 11th win of the year. 

Marissa Burian put in a hard-hitting effort against Upper Iowa's Elaina Wall, winning 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets to pull her singles record to 8-9 in 2022-23. To round out the day, Claire Nemmers dominated in number five singles, winning 6-1. 6-0. 
 
Dragons 6, Peacocks 1

Doubles
No. 1 -  Shaelyn Johnson/Tia Dykema def. Johanne Vallee/Rafaela Tavares - 6-3
No. 2 -  Tiannah Gu/Madison Bell def. Varvara Ogorodnikova/Elaina Wall - 6-2
No. 3 -  Marissa Burian/Claire Nemmers won by forfeit

Singles
No. 1 – Shaelyn Johnson def. Varvara Ogorodnikova - 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 -  Tiannah Gu def. Johanne Vallee - 6-3 (Gu), 6-3 (Vallee), 10-3 (Gu)
No. 3 -  Rafaela Tavares  def. Tia Dykema - 7-5 (Dykema), 6-3 (Tavares), 10-6 (Tavares)
No. 4 -  Marissa Burian def. Elaina Wall - 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 -  Claire Nemmers def. Katie O' Brien - 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 – Madison Bell won by forfeit

Up Next

MSUM is back in action tomorrow for a 9 a.m. match with Winona State from Courts Plus. The Dragons will honor Tia Dykema in the morning, who will graduate this spring.