Indianapolis, Ind. - The Franklin College women's tennis team suffered a loss in the semifinals of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) tournament at the West Indy Racquet Club on Saturday. The Grizzlies defeated Manchester University 5-3 in the first round before losing to No. 2 seed Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in their second match of the afternoon.

Against Manchester, the Grizzlies got off to a quick start by winning all three doubles matches. The tandem of sophomore Melissa Sanders (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North) and junior Bethany Harris (Avon, Ind./Avon) earned an 8-5 triumph at No. 1 doubles. Sophomore Chelsea Howell (West Harrison, Ind./Franklin County) and freshman Alison Meyer (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) won 8-3 at the No. 2 doubles position. The doubles team of sophomore Chelsea Platt (Shelbyville, Ind./Morristown) and freshman Emily Helvie (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) won a tiebreaker 8-6 at the No. 3 position.

In singles, Howell won in straight sets 6-0, 7-5 at the No. 4 position before sophomore Emily Roberts (Franklin, Ind./Edinburgh) clinched the team victory with a three-set triumph 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 position.

In the semifinals, Rose-Hulman grabbed a 3-0 lead by sweeping the doubles action. The Grizzlies lost at the No. 2 and 3 singles positions to end the match.

Franklin ends the fall season with an 8-5 record. The team finished in a three-way tie for second place in the HCAC.