FREDERICKSBURG, Va. Methodist's women's tennis team faced off with No. 17 University of Mary Washington and then Salisbury (Md.) University Saturday at Mary Washington's 2019 Eagle Indoor Invitational, dropping both matches inside UMW's Indoor Tennis Center.
The host Eagles posted a 9-0 win over the Monarchs in the morning, and in the afternoon it was the Sea Gulls who rallied for a 6-3 win over Methodist.
THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: No. 17 Mary Washington def. Methodist, 9-0; Salisbury def. Methodist, 6-3
Records: Methodist 1-3; Mary Washington 1-0; Salisbury 1-0
Location: UMW Indoor Tennis Center; Fredericksburg, Va.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Methodist forged a 2-1 lead after doubles action against Salisbury. Taylor Jackson and Bri Rado scratched out an 8-5 win at No. 3 for the first point, but SU grabbed a win at No. 2 to knot the match at 1-1.
- Ashton Walker and Abby Caddick battled into a match tiebreaker at No. 1 as the Monarch tandem and SU's Annika Kezman and Sydney Soto vied for the final doubles point. Finally, it was Walker and Caddick who put away the match point, winning the set 9-8 with a 9-7 tiebreak victory.
- The Sea Gulls pulled even with an initial point in singles action, but Caddick lifted Methodist in front again with her 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5 over Shannon Hickman.
- That would be the last victory against SU, though, as the Sea Gulls captured wins at Nos. 1, 3 and 6 to take the match.
- The contest at 3-singles between Jackson and Taylor Cooper was another match that extended into a tiebreaker to decide the winner. Cooper snared the opening set but Jackson stormed back with a 6-1 second-set victory to force the super-tiebreak third set. Only one service break separated the two, but that one difference tilted Cooper's way as she eked out the tiebreak victory by a 10-8 count over Jackson.
- In the morning match against UMW, Walker and Caddick pushed back hard against the Eagles' No. 1 doubles pairing of Rachel Summers and Lauren Quinn, but it was the home duo that were able to finish off an 8-5 win that allowed UMW to sweep doubles and propel it into singles play with momentum on the courts.
NEXT UP
Methodist travels up the road to Winston-Salem State University on March 2 for a non-conference match against the NCAA Division II Rams.