Franklin, Ind. - The Franklin College women's tennis team fell in a hard-fought home match 5-4 to Indiana University-Southeast on Sunday at Grizzly Park.
The Grizzlies won on four of the six singles courts, but IU-Southeast's Maddie Ikerd earned a three-set triumph at No. 5 singles for the deciding point.
Franklin (1-2) mounted a rally after dropping two of the three doubles matches. Sophomore Melissa Sanders (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North) improved to 3-0 at No. 1 singles on the season with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph.
Junior Bethany Harris (Avon, Ind./Avon) dropped only four games in earning a victory at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Shawnee Bayes (Lexington, Ind./Austin) defeated IU-Southeast's Katie Morrison 6-3, 7-5 at the No. 6 singles position.
The tandem of sophomore Chelsea Howell (West Harrison, Ind./Franklin County) and freshman Alison Meyer (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) picked up an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles to round out the winners.
Franklin returns to the court on Wednesday, September 18 at 6 p.m. when it travels to Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. The Grizzlies are the defending Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season champions.
