STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Lady Barons tennis swept another conference opponent, this time defeated Pitt - Bradford 9-0 at home. Carrying their confidence from the previous day's win against defending conference champions Penn St.-Beherend, the Lady Barons proved to be the better team from start to finish.

"Coming off of yesterday's big match, we were a little concerned that we might come out complacent and we didn't," assistant coach Mike Turrentine said. "We wanted to have our players understand that they control what happens at a match by their play, their focus, and their concentration. It doesn't matter who is on the other side."

The biggest performance of the day belonged to freshman Emily Mathias who won both her first doubles and singles matches as a collegiate player.

Mathias and her doubles partner sophomore Ashley Veazey, playing together for just the second time, won a close no. 3 doubles match 8-6. Mathias followed that by securing her first no.6 singles win 6-2, 6-1.

"It feels really great. We had great energy going into the match from doubles and it was really nice to bring that into the game," Mathias said.

The freshman's performance is particularly significant as she takes the place of injured freshman Anna O'Connor in the team's lineup after O'Connor was hurt in the match against Behrend. Turrentine, who coached the team with head coach Jenna Lynch on maternity leave, said he was proud of Mathias's success on the court.

"We put her into a situation as of yesterday to play higher in the line-up due to Anna O'Connor's injuries," Turrentine said. "It is difficult for somebody to be thrown into that as a freshman."

Veazey, who won doubles with Mathias and finished with a 6-2, 6-2 no. 2 singles victory of her own, said she was happy with the maturity her teammates showed in the win.

"Everyone played really well yesterday and we carried that well into today's match," Veazey said. "Despite yesterday's injuries we all have remained mentally tough."

The Lady Barons tennis will next play Penn St. - Altoona on the road on Sunday, September 20 at 1 pm.