ORLANDO, Fla.  – The University of Minnesota, Crookston women's tennis team picked up their first victory of the season Wednesday afternoon in Orlando, Fla., as they upended Western New England University 6-3. Tuesday, the Golden Eagles fell 6-3 to Nichols College. After earning a split over the past two days, the Golden Eagles are now 1-9 on the season as they return back to Minnesota after going 1-2 on their Spring Break trip. Western New England, a NCAA Division III school in Springfield, Mass., is now 5-10 overall on the 2012-13 season. Nichols, a NCAA Division III school in Dudley, Mass., has a mark of 14-5 on the season.
 
In Wednesday's match against the Golden Bears of Western New England, the Golden Eagles started out by taking two out of three points in doubles to go ahead 2-1 early on. At No. 1 doubles, Katelyn Johnson (Jr., Monticello, Minn.) and Catherine Brown (Fr., Powell Butte, Ore.) upended Linda Mustafa and Valerie Conway 8-2. At the No. 2 slot, Holly Roepke (Sr., Osage, Minn.) and Amanda Pihlaja (Sr., Duluth, Minn.) took down Juliette Cormier and Kelly Burns 8-2. At the No. 3 slot, Western New England came away with a narrow victory as Kelsey Grode and Ashley Lauricella defeated Emily Caldis (Fr., St. Paul, Minn.) and Casey Paris (Jr., Fairmont, Minn.) 8-6.
 
In singles,Roepke took Mustafa to three sets at No. 1 singles but fell 6-3, 6-7, 10-1. Johnson came away with the win for the Golden Eagles at the No. 2 slot, 6-0, 6-0 over Conway. At the No. 3 spot, Brown took down Lindsey Bruding 6-0, 6-0. At No. 4 singles, Pihlaja took a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Gillian Adams. At the No. 5 singles spot, Paris defeated Burns, 6-1, 6-2 while at No. 6 singles, Michele Magliulo defeated Amanda Newman (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.), 7-5, 6-0.
 
In Tuesday's match against Nichols, UMC would get one point in doubles as Nichols would take the early 2-1 advantage on the Golden Eagles. Roepke and Pihlaja got the win as they upended Alex Cifone and Michelle Keklik, 8-5. At No. 1 doubles, Anna Dyakiv and Lindsay Benoit defeated Johnson and Brown, 8-2. At No. 3 doubles, Caldis and Paris fell 8-3 to Kasie Chapin and Amber McCarthy 8-3.
 
In singles, Roepke fell to Dyakiv, 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 1 slot. At No. 2 singles, Johnson fell to Benoit, 6-1, 6-2. At the No. 3 spot, Cifone upended Brown 6-4, 6-4. At No. 4 singles, Pihlaja was victorious for the Golden Eagles as she defeated Keklik, 6-1, 6-2. Paris secured a victory at the No. 5 singles slot over Chapin, 6-1, 7-6. At No. 6 singles, Newman fell in three to McCarthy 6-7, 6-3, 10-6.
 
The Golden Eagles will return to action April 6 against University of Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State University.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
                                       
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