NEWBERG --- The George Fox women's tennis team split their non-conference doubleheader with a 7-2 win over College of Idaho and a 6-3 loss to Otterbein on Sunday.
Game One – Bruins 7, Yotes 2
Doubles
The Bruins jumped ahead early with two wins in the doubles column. The underclassmen pair of Ellie Mangan and Megan Wilks picked up the first win of the day at No. 3 doubles, 8-2, followed by juniors Sophia Lawrence and Laney Search snagging a win No. 1, 8-3. Fox forfeited the No. 2 doubles match with an 8-4 battle from Jillian Studer and Taylor Morris.
Singles
After Jillian Studer took a hit at No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-3), the Bruins turned around to win the final five matches. Lawrence earned a win in three sets at No. 2 after falling behind in the second set. She fought tooth and nail in the final set, rallying back from a 9-4 disadvantage for a final score of 6-4, 3-6, 14-12.
Danielle Brown won No. 3 singles in straight sets by the score of 6-2, 6-1, and Search doubled up her wins on the day with a hard-won 7-5, 7-6 victory at No. 4. Taylor Morris won her first set 7-5 before her opponent retired while Alyssa Byde dominated in the six slot with a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
Game Two – Cardinals 6, Bruins 3
Doubles
Otterbein swept all three matches to put the Bruins in a 3-0 deficit coming out of doubles competition. Lawrence and Search fell 8-3 at No. 1 after Brown and Byde dropped an 8-3 decision at No. 3. Studer and Mangan held on for a 7-7 tie before falling 8-6 in the tiebreaker.
Singles
Studer, Morris, and Byde all won their singles matches, but only Byde would earn a win in two sets (6-2, 6-3) at No. 6. Studer throttled her opponent 6-1 before tying 6-6 in the second. The junior's hard work paid off with a 7-5 tiebreaker at No. 2 singles. Morris suffered a 6-3 defeat in her first set but answered with a commanding 6-1 victory in the second. Her momentum carried her through a 10-8 win in the third at the five spot.
Lawrence, Brown, and Search all dropped their matches. Lawrence (No. 1) fell 6-3, 6-0 while Brown (No. 3) lost 6-4, 6-4. Search (No. 4) took her opponent to 7-5 in the first before dropping the second 6-2.
"We let doubles slip away against Otterbein and that was just too much to overcome, said head coach Rick Cruz. "We played well in singles but just couldn't overcome the deficit."
Overall, Cruz was proud of his team and looks forward to how they can improve as they head into Northwest Conference play.
What It Means
With the split, the Bruins move to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the Northwest Conference after defeating Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday.
What Comes Next
The Bruins travel to Lewis & Clark for their first Northwest Conference road trip next weekend. The match kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Mar. 7.
