GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University women's tennis team fought off a tough opponent in Bethel (Ind.) in a 6-3 win indoors at the Huizenga Tennis and Track Center on Saturday.
Calvin (9-1) held off Bethel (11-7) with the help of three tiebreaker wins in the tightly contested match.
The matches were close from the start of doubles play, where the Knights' number-one team of
Marina Ribeiro (Santos, São Paulo, Brazil) and
Julia Hooker (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) won 8-7 thanks to an 8-6 tiebreaker. The number-three team of
Tessa Holman (Washington, Mich./Romeo) and
Elise Norman (Battle Creek, Lakeview) won 8-3, while the Pilots took the number-two doubles match 8-7 in a 7-2 tiebreaker.
With the Knights leading 2-1 heading into singles play, Bethel won each of the top two seeds in singles in straight sets to get to three points for the match.
Averi Lewis (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin) and
Delanie Minnema (East Grand Rapids, Mich./Northpointe) won in straight sets in the numbers five and six positions.
In the middle of the line-up,
Catherine Grissom (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) scored a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8) win in number-three singles, while
Maggie Shoemaker (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) came back to also win a third-set tiebreaker 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) to secure the final points.
COACH'S COMMENT: "We came up big in three of four tiebreakers and continued to play well at the bottom of the line-up," Calvin head tennis coach
John Ross said. "Big wins by a lot of players today. We showed some excellent mental toughness today."
NEXT UP: Calvin women's tennis returns to action on Wednesday, March 20, when it hosts Spring Arbor in a match scheduled to start at 4:00 PM.
