HARROGATE, Tenn. - In a must-win situation against the visiting Mars Hill Lions, the Lincoln Memorial University men's and women's tennis teams rose to the challenge Friday afternoon with decisive 6-1 and 7-0 victories, respectively. The men's victory is their first in South Atlantic Conference play this season as they improve to 2-7 (1-4), while the women move to 3-5 (2-3).

On the women's side, the match got off to a fantastic start with LMU dropping just a single game across the three matches. Johanna Delisse and Valentina Ascarrunz cruised to a 6-1 win at number one while the teams of Julia Valls and Amanda Dahlstrom and Samantha Hogan and Kristin Vogel won 6-0 at numbers two and three. The wins gave the Lady Railsplitters the crucial 1-0 lead early in the match.

The dominance continued in singles as the team did not drop a set. Valls won 6-3, 6-1 at number one while Delisse was victorious by a score of 6-4, 6-3 at number two. Ascarrunz lost only one game at number three in her 6-0, 6-1 triumph and Vogel won 6-2, 6-2 at number four. Dahlstrom shut out her opponent 6-0, 6-0 at number six and Claudia Rodriguez defeated her opponent 8-2 in a pro set at number five.

"I was impressed with our team from top to bottom today," head coach Marc Walters said. "Step by step we handled doubles and singles, and our focus was great. I hope to see continued improvement from this group as we head into key conference matchups against Carson-Newman and Catawba next week."

The men saw similar dominance in doubles as Iker Moure and Sebastian Colla gutted out a 7-5 win at number one, Jake Tuchmann and Thom Hermans won 6-2 at number two, and the freshman duo of Thomas Turner and Luca Pavan won 6-2 at number three, earning the Railsplitters the early 1-0 lead.

Moure also won 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 at number one singles while Colla cruised in his 6-1, 6-2 victory at number two. Like Dahlstrom, Hermans shut out his opponent 6-0, 6-0 at number four and Pavan showed his mettle with a 6-4, 6-1 win at the number six spot. Oscar Bailey won the first match of his burgeoning LMU career with an 8-3 pro set victory at number five.

"We got a much-needed win today after a tough stretch," Walters commented. "The freshmen stepped up and applied their experiences from the past few weeks to control matches. Iker, Jakes, and Sebastian led us once again and played at a solid level in the process, which bodes well for next week. They are the cement that holds our team together and are key to our overall success."

The men's team has a quick turnaround as they take on Union (Ky.) tomorrow at 11 a.m. at home while the women are off until Wednesday, Mar. 17 when they welcome Carson-Newman to Harrogate.