CAMDEN, N.J. – The Ursinus College women's tennis team saw its lone match of the fall come down to a third set on the last remaining singles court, but the Bears came up just shy as host Rutgers-Camden concluded its own campaign with a nail-biting 5-4 victory.
Sophomore Madisen Harvey was a double winner for the Bears, who were playing a fall dual match for the first time in two seasons.
Two of the Bears' doubles teams picked up their first wins together. Marking their collegiate debuts, rookies Maddie Russell and Cara Freedman cruised to an 8-3 win over LeAnne Hall and Aubrey Hawn on the top court. Russell (West Chester East) and Freedman (Unionville) were Ches-Mont League rivals in high school before finding themselves paired up on the same side for the first time.
Harvey and junior Summer Burkholder played three matches together a year ago, but were winless until Sunday's 8-1 rout of Hannah Cohan and Morgan Dempsey at number three.
The Bears' third tandem – freshmen Jessica Leach and Brenna Trkula – nearly made it a sweep but wound up on the short end of an 8-7 (4) tiebreaker at number two.
Harvey made it a 2-for-2 afternoon with a resounding 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Cohan at number six singles, and Trkula followed with her first career win at number two, downing Danielle Lemma in a 6-4, 6-4 decision.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Rutgers-Camden (8-1) had the measure of the last four singles courts to storm back from 4-1 down. Three of them were straight sets, setting up a de facto tiebreaker at the fifth flight. Sophomore Maddie Sorebo claimed the first set but was unable to hold off Dempsey in a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 clincher for the Scarlet Raptors.
The Bears pick back up in 2019 with a non-conference match against Arcadia on February 23.