Winning 7-5 for No. 1 doubles, women’s tennis players Katharina “Kat” Bopst and Yasmin Imamniyazova beat Huntington University on Marian’s home court in Crossroads League play on Sept. 13.
In a regular set, a team has to win six games. The catch is if both teams are tied 5-5, they have to win by two games. This was the case with Bopst and Imamniyazova. The match was tight in the beginning but after they tied, Marian’s No.1 doubles team came through and hit more winners than Huntington’s – ending the day as champions.
A senior in marketing and management, Bopst is from Germany and fluently speaks three languages – German, Spanish, and English. Although she says her career path is undecided, she has this season’s goals clearly mapped out.
“I believe we can make it to nationals,” Bopst said. She said she believes she is in a “very good team” this year and is all working to make it as far as possible together.
Imamniyazova is a freshman from Kazakhstan majoring in psychology. She says when she graduates, she wants to be a sports psychologist and continue in the athletic field. Not only is Imamniyazova playing No. 1 doubles with Bopst, she also holds the No. 1 singles spot on the team.
“I feel a lot of responsibility to do well in both positions,” Imamniyazova said.
On top of the responsibility of holding the top two positions on the team, Imamniyazova is also navigating being a student taking classes based on her third language – English.
“Marian supports its international students,” she said. “They [the professors] will repeat things for me when I don’t understand.”
With success on the court today, both players are looking forward to their next match against Grace College on Sept. 16.
