TIGERS PICK UP FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON IN HOME-OPENING WEEKEND

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Playing on their home court for the first time all season, the Olivet Nazarene University women's tennis team picked up their first win of the season with a 4-3 victory over St. Ambrose Saturday. The Tigers suffered a 4-3 setback to Indiana East in Friday's home opener.

Indiana East 4, Olivet Nazarene 3

ONU opened the match by collecting the doubles point with wins in the top two doubles matches. After IU-East took the top two singles matches, Rafaela Luna picked up the super tiebreaker 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 win. Natasha Nieto followed her up with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 4 match. However, the Tigers had to forfeit the final two matches, surrendering the loss to IU-East.

Singles
1 - Linda Morino (IUE) def. Chieh-Yu Chen, 6-2, 7-6
2 - Eva Caballero (IUE) def. Hailey Haws, 2-6, 7-5, 10-7
3 - Rafaela Luna (ONU) def. Amonette Theron, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4
4 - Natasha Nieto (ONU) def. Laura Billing, 6-0, 6-0
5 - Kerstin Ellis (IUE) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit
6 - Alyssa Hollingsworth (IUE) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit

Doubles
1 - C. Chen/N. Nieto (ONU) def. B. Schafstall/G. Helms, 6-0
2 - H. Haws/R. Luna (ONU) def. A. Hollingsworth/K. Ellis, 6-2
3 - A. Theron/L. Billing (IUE) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit

Olivet Nazarene 4, St. Ambrose 3

The Tigers handled the Fighting Bees in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) opener for both teams. ONU picked up 6-1 wins in both doubles matches to notch the doubles point before Chieh-Yu Chen picked up a clean 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles. Nieto and Luna continued their strong weekends with wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, to lock down the CCAC-opening win.

Singles
1 - Julia Turek (SAU) def. Hailey Haws, 6-3, 6-1
2 - Chieh-Yu Chen (ONU) def. Paige Bily, 6-0, 6-0
3 - Natasha Nieto (ONU) def. Paige Owens, 6-1, 6-3
4 - Rafaela Luna (ONU) def. Jenna Smithmeyer, 6-0, 6-3
5 - Kate Jones (SAU) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit
6 - Audrey Pender (SAU) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit

Doubles
1 - C. Chen/N. Nieto (ONU) def. J. Turek/P. Bily, 6-1
2 - H. Haws/R. Luna (ONU) def. K. Jones/S. Baxter, 6-1
3 - P. Owens/J. Smithmeyer (SAU) def. N/A, 1-0 forfeit

The Tigers will continue play in the CCAC with a road match at Holy Cross Tuesday at 11 a.m. CST.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu