HARROGATE, Tenn. – The LMU women's tennis team claimed one of the doubles flights and nearly took the point, falling in a tie-breaker, but that point proved to be the deciding factor as Bellarmine eked out the 4-3 win over the Lady Railsplitters Sunday afternoon. It is the first loss of the season for LMU.

Samantha Hogan and Kristin Vogel claimed the first win of the day as they won the #3 doubles flight 6-2. The Knights took the win at the second spot, so it all came down to the first flight to determine the doubles points. There, Johanna Delisse and Julia Valls went to a tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (7-4) and Bellarmine claimed the doubles match point.

"It was a tough day on the courts, our kids put themselves in a position to win but came up just short in the doubles and that turned out to be the difference," said LMU coach Mark Walters.
Kiersten Waugh tied the match up at 1-1 as she claimed a three-set 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win at the third flight. Amanda Dahlstrom also went to three sets at #5 before falling 6-4, 2-6, 3-6. Delisse also had a hard-fought loss at the first spot, where she fell 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, as Bellarmine went up 3-1.

Valls cut the lead to 3-2 with her 6-2, 6-2 win at the #2 flight, and Vogel tied up the match with her 6-2, 6-2 win at the sixth flight.

It all came down to yet another three-set match at the fourth flight as Claudia Rodriguez won the first set 6-1 over BU's Aubrey Smith, but fell in the next set 6-3. In the deciding third set, Smith barely bested Rodriguez 7-5 to claim the match win for the Knights.

"Women had a heartbreaker, but I was really impressed with our singles even though we came up short. Claudia Rodriguez had a tough match all the way to the end and had match points but couldn't quite close the deal. Her opponent raised the level when she needed to and that's all you can ask," said Walters.
 
LMU (3-1) will return to the courts next Saturday at 2 pm, when they host Lindsey Wilson.