MARYVILLE, Mo. — As Jordan Lipira continued to battle Emporia State’s Amanda Morris at No. 3 singles, a crowd of teammates began to gather on the adjacent court to watch the Northwest Missouri State junior. Even Lisa Pendrak stole a few glances despite being in the second set of her No. 6 singles match on the next court over.

With a hard overhand smash, Lipira gave her teammates what they were looking for. The winner gave Lipira a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3 6-3 win, and helped Northwest tp a 5-2 team victory over the Hornets and assured them all of a trip to the NCAA Division II national tournament in Houston.

“I enjoy it,” Lipira said of the attention. “I don’t usually get too nervous when I play.”

Lipira’s 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory gave Northwest its sixth straight North Central Region title. This will be their seventh overall national tournament appearance.

On the men’s side, the Northwest men lost their regional final against Washburn 5-2, missing out on a trip to the men’s national, also hosted in Houston by Rice University.

Lipira, a 2005 Central High School graduate, started off slowly — just like she did in No. 2 double with Veronica Castilla before they rebounded for an 8-3 victory.

“I wasn’t playing so well in the first set, and (Morris) was playing really good, so I just had to change my game plan around,” Lipira said. “Instead of trying for shots, (I began) just making sure I got it in, but still being aggressive. Once I started winning some games, I had my confidence up.”

Northwest coach Mark Rosewell said Lipira (21-8) has had an exceptional season.

“Jordan has gone to the next level for her junior year,” Rosewell said. “She has played 5 for us the past two years, and she’s played a solid No. 3 this year. Any time you get 20 wins in a season, you’ve had a pretty good year.”

Kristina Vucenov earned a straight-set victory at No. 1 for her 30th singles win of the season. She beat Marcela Bayon 6-1, 6-0. Lina Gomez earned a 6-1, 6-1 No. 4 singles win, and the Bearcats took two of three doubles matches.

Newly named MIAA Freshman of the Year Vigit Sehgal led the Bearcats into the men’s match. However, Sehgal lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to Rutger Vliegenberg of Washburn.

“Talent-wise, he’s the best player on our team,” Roswell said. “Experience wise, no. He’s getting his lumps right now because he’s playing a lot of juniors and seniors that have a lot more experience. But the only way you get better is to play those guys, and he’s competing with them.”

Northwest scored its wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Daniel Usieto defeated Nathan Martin 6-3, 6-2. Felipe Gennari beat Drew Hanson 6-4, 6-2.