CRESSON, Pa. - With the help of a couple of forfeits and a retired match, the Franciscan women's tennis team swept Mount Aloysius on their home courts 9-0.

"They had to forfeit a few matches because they didn't have enough girls," head coach Jeremy Ellis said. "Once again, a conference match win helps us mentally prepare for the tournament, gets us one step closer. It's just good to stay playing good tennis and that's our goal."

In order to give some more girls playing time, Ellis played around with both his doubles and his singles lineup. Freshman Maria Binette and sophomore Maggie Vander Woude played no. 1 doubles together for the first time and won their match 8-3. On court no. 2, junior Claire Haddad and freshman Julia Razook also played together and dominated with match with an 8-0 win while no. 3 doubles was a forfeit.

Binette remained at the no. 1 spot for singles and played the best match of the afternoon, winning 6-3, 6-4.

"Being at one, you have to play a good player regardless," Ellis said. "Maria had a girl who hit flat and it was hard for her to get in any rhythm. It was good for her to just stay focused and finish the match. She had a good one just from a mental standpoint."

The rest of the singles lineup was different, with every girl moving up one spot to play. At no. 2 singles, Razook's opponent had to retire and no. 6 singles was a forfeit, giving the Lady Barons two more wins that did not require any extra effort.

Ellis does not doubt that the match would have been closer had the Mounties been able to play a full nine matches.

"They're going to be a team that's going to be questionable because if they had their top six, that would be a good match," Ellis said. "We may see them again at the conference tournament depending on how they do."

With two more conference matches remaining, Franciscan sits at third place in the standings, putting the Lady Barons in place to host a first round match if the standings remain the same.

"We've got a lot of work to do for the tournament still in my opinion," Ellis said. "It's going to be an interesting year. If we put the work in these next two weeks and really get ready, I'm looking for a Cinderella conference win."

The Lady Barons have one more match remaining this weekend, traveling with the men's team for another dual match against Marietta College on September 27 at 4 p.m.

"We have Marietta tomorrow which should be a little bit more difficult to help us get ready," Ellis said. "We're missing Renata Crespo this weekend so that will change things up a little bit but we'll get ready and hopefully play well."