STEUBENVILLE - Looking to improve upon their already positive 4-3 record, the Franciscan University tennis team took to their home courts on Thursday, in a tough matchup against non-conference opponent Cedarville. After the men's team prematurely concluded their competition against Cedarville counterparts due to rain, the Lady Barons looked to make the most of what proved to be quality competition. 

After lineup introductions and warmups, doubles play characterized the courts. At the No. 1 doubles spot, junior team captain Maria Binette and sophomore Madelyn Conrad aimed to continue their winning ways, against Cedarville opponents that proved difficult from the match's onset. Down 4-3, the Lady Barons pressed the net, concluding points on their own terms and applying pressure on the visiting opposition. A service break and a hold later, Cedarville had reached a 6-3 lead, and the Franciscan duo would win only one more game before surrendering a hard-fought 8-4 loss. 

Junior tandem Julia Razook and Taranee Karimpour anchored the No. 2 doubles spot and quickly found themselves in a 3-0 deficit, the victims of smart Cedarville doubles. Razook's volley and Karimpour's ever-consistent groundstrokes kept the match visually competitive down the stretch, though the Lady Barons would lose the 8-3 pro set. 

Sophomore Gracie Hammel, together with senior team captain Emmy Mathias, were providing their doubles opponents with more than they could handle at the No. 3 spot. Hammel's rocket serves paired well with Mathias' dependable groundstrokes, and the two battled to a 6-5 deficit. Mathias was all over the net as the pair leveled the match at 6-6 before a Cedarville service break put them up one, 7-6. 

The Lady Barons would break Cedarville's serve in five points to again even the score at 7-7, and the match quickly reached a tiebreaker. Things were as close in the deciding seven-point series as they were in the match. A quality backhand volley from Hammel's racket at 5-5 gave the Lady Barons match point, and they took full advantage to pull away for the 7-5 tiebreak and match win. 

Down 2-1 after the conclusion of doubles play, the Lady Barons were very much in the match as singles play quickly typified all six courts. 

After Mathias saw her consistent play falter in a 6-0, 6-0 No. 6 singles match, and Hammel stole a game against an otherwise unwavering No. 3 singles opponent 6-1, 6-0, Binette found herself locked in a second set struggle with her No. 2 singles Cedarville opponent. After surrendering the first set 6-2, Binette lengthened her baseline rallies at the onset of the second, forcing her opponent deep into alternating corners. The captain finished a number of points at the net, and ultimately fell only points short of a second set tiebreak, 7-5. 

At No. 1 singles, Conrad found points easier to come by once she abbreviated groundstrokes and took her opponent's topspin-laden shots on the rise. Even so, she could not improve upon a 6-2 first set loss in the second, although her style of play should prove well indicative of a solid postseason campaign to come.

The usually consistent Karimpour faltered in her No. 5 singles match, losing both sets 6-1, 6-1, though flashes of her solid groundstrokes characterized the majority of her match.

With five singles matches in the books, eyes turned to Razook's no. 4 singles court, where the junior lost a hotly contested 7-5 first set. Her opponent simply had more gas in the tank when it mattered most and ran away with the second set, 6-1, and the match.

The 8-1 match result is nevertheless an improvement over last year's 9-0 shutout loss, and the Lady Barons should find ample opportunity to bounce back when they next take to the courts on Saturday with a road AMCC matched against Mt. Aloysius.