ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ursinus College women's tennis team split a pair of matches on Tuesday, dominating Division II Shippensburg before surrendering a 7-2 decision to a strong Piedmont squad in an evening tilt.
Sophomore Maddie Sorebo and junior Summer Burkholder went 2-0 on the doubles court for the Bears (2-3), while junior Caitlyn Sorelle notched an impressive three-set singles win over the top player from 8-1 Piedmont.
Ursinus 7, Shippensburg 0
Playing under Divison I/II rules, doubles counted as one decision in the Bears' first match of the day. Ursinus made swift work of it, getting a 6-0 shutout from Sorebo and Summer Burkholder at number three and a 6-1 rout from first-years Maddie Russell and Cara Freedman on the first court. Those two were enough to claim the doubles point with ease, but junior Caitlyn Sorelle and sophomore Madisen Harvey polished off a sweep for good measure with a tight 6-4 decision at number two.
The individual matches delivered much of the same for the Bears, who did not drop a set and conceded just eight total games outside of a close match at number three singles.
Freedman needed little time to roll through a 6-0, 6-0 blanking on the fifth court, and fellow rookie Jessica Leach permitted her opponent just one game in a 6-0, 6-1 victory at number two.
Russell was a 6-1, 6-1 winner at number one singles, and Harvey posted a 6-2, 6-2 decision at number four.
Burkholder completed the 7-0 sweep with a hard-fought 6-3, 7-6 (8) defeat of Kayla Tryanski at third singles.
Piedmont 7, Ursinus 2
Piedmont grabbed the first two doubles courts, but Burkholder and Sorebo rose up to snag a tightly contested 8-7 (5) tiebreaker at number three to give the Bears a chance heading into singles play.
Ursinus, however, was unable to win a set on any singles court except the top one, where Sorelle pulled out an impressive win. The junior bounced back from a 7-5 first-set loss to claim the second, 6-3, and edged out a 6-4 decision in the third.