ORLANDO, Fla. – With Alyssa Emoto and Krista Rey winning all four of their matches, the George Fox University Bruins dropped a narrow 5-4 decision to the Luther College Norse but came back to hammer the Hamline University Pipers 7-2 in a pair of non-conference women's tennis matches here Sunday at the Lake Cane Tennis Center and the Star Island Resort.

Match 1 - Luther 5, George Fox 4

Emoto and Rey teamed up to give the Bruins an 8-5 victory at No. 1 doubles over Luther's Lola White-Baer and Maggie Helms, but the Norse took the next two doubles.  Caroline Treis and Hailey Johnson blanked Taylor Barnes and Shelby Arnold 8-0 at No. 2, and Jenna Myers and Olivia Heitz edged Ali Diehl and Megan Dahlberg 9-7 at No.3.

The teams split the singles matches, including a pair of three-set marathons that ultimately decided the match.  Emoto defeated White-Baer 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 and Dahlberg downed Myers 7-5, 0-6, 6-0 at No. 4, while Lauren Welch dropped Diehl 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5, and Addy Riley beat Arnold 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6.

With the match still on the line, Rey gave the Bruins a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Treis at No. 3, but Helms nipped Barnes 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 2 to clinch the win for the Norse.

Match 2 - George Fox 7, Hamline 2

Emoto did not lose a game in leading the Bruins past the Pipers.  She and Rey posted an 8-0 win over Jordan Danielson and Leeanna Manthe at No. 1 doubles, then she scored a 6-0, 6-0 whitewashing of Emily Butler at No. 1 singles.  Rey completed her 4-0 day with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Cassie Rammage at No. 3 singles.

The other two doubles were split.  Diehl and Dahlberg gave the Bruins an 8-5 win over Rammage and Shamara Duwearatchi at No. 2, but Lilli Denison and Elizabeth Hughes prevailed over the Bruins' Barnes and Arnold 8-5 at No. 2.

Additional Bruin singles wins came from Barnes over Danielson 7-6, 6-1 at No. 2, Dahlberg over Duwearatchi 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4, and Diehl over Maggie Gibson 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5.  The Pipers' only singles victory came at No. 6 as Emily Wollmuth tripped Arnold 6-1, 6-0.

George Fox is now 6-7 on the season after the split, which gives the Bruins a 2-2 mark on their Florida spring break trip.  Luther, from Decorah, Iowa, picked up its first win and is now 1-2.  Hamline, from St. Paul, Minn., dropped to 3-9.

“We're playing very well right now,” assessed George Fox head coach Rick Cruz.  “We had a close match that could have gone either way with Luther, which is a favorite to win the Iowa Conference this year.  Hamline is probably a middle-of-the-pack team in the Minnesota Conference, but they are much-improved and that was a good win for us.  The one who is really on fire is Alyssa; she is playing with a ton of confidence right now and is on top of her game.  To not even lose a game against Hamline was one of the best performances I have seen from any George Fox player.”    

NEXT: George Fox's trip-ending match against Hamilton College has been moved up from Monday afternoon to Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. EDT (7:00 a.m. PDT) at Lake Cane.