Results

OBERLIN, OH – The IUP women's tennis team dropped its season opener to Case Western Reserve by a score of 5-4 in a match played at Oberlin College on Sunday.

Case Western, ranked 25th in Division III, earned the victory after over seven and a half hours of play.

With things knotted up at 4-4, Case Western's Sarah Berchuck clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-7 (0-3), 10-8 victory over Alanna McFail (Fort Washington, Md. /St. John's College ) at the sixth singles spot.

Down 2-1 after doubles action and then 3-1 with one singles match played, the Crimson Hawks rallied with three straight wins to take a 4-3 lead.

Tanya Timko (Cannonsburg, PA/Chartiers-Houston) picked up the first win with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win at number one. Abby McCormick (Bethel Park, Pa. /Bethel Park) then defeated Sara Zargham 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 at number two and Sophie Butland (Taunton, Somerset U.K./Bishop Fox's Community School) picked up a 7-5, 7-5 win at three over Taylor Sweeney.

Case Western tied the score with a win at five, leading to its match-clinching victory.

In doubles play, Timko and McCormick picked up IUP's only win with an 8-3 victory over Zargham and Marianne Bonanno. Butland and Erika Schnaas (Mexico City, Mexico/Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ) fell 8-5 at number two and McFail and Ranvita Mahto (Burlington, ON/Robert Bateman) lost 8-3 at number three.

The Crimson Hawks have an exhibition match at Bucknell on Saturday before getting back to regular season play on Sunday at Carnegie Mellon. Start time for that match is set for 11:30 a.m.