STEUBENVILLE – It was a perfect Saturday afternoon for Franciscan University's Lady Barons to host a tennis match against the Bethany College Bison. Both teams came out strong, but the day was in Bethany's favor, defeating the Lady Barons 5-4. Franciscan now has an overall season standing of 3-9.

"Franciscan played really well; it was just a tough match," said assistant tennis coach Jenna Lynch. "There was a lot of even talent.  It could have gone either way.  It seemed like it came down to luck, but it was more endurance."

The Bison took a clear 2-1 victory away from the doubles matches. At the number one and two spots in singles, neither Bethany nor Franciscan seemed to dominate on the court, though the final set scores seem to indicate otherwise. Lady Bison Maria Vallone took the number one singles 6-2, 6-1, while Franciscan's number two seed Mariette van der Wegen took the win 6-2, 6-0.

Junior Lyndsay Nadeau claimed a 6-2, 5-7(3), 6-2 victory over Bethany's Tiffany Simpson while Lucia Neugebauer defeated Brittany Duell with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Franciscan's Marija Beck fell to Brittani Seeman in a close final score of 7-6(4), 6-4.

After three consecutive days of competition, the Lady Barons will head back onto their home courts on Tuesday, October 12, for their final conference match of the season against Mt. Aloysius College. Game time is set for 2:15 p.m.