Franklin, Ind. - The Franklin College women's tennis team improved to 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play behind an 8-1 home victory over Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon at the Mickel-Hoover Tennis Complex.

Franklin (4-0, 2-0 HCAC) defeated Transylvania University 9-0 in the conference opener on Saturday.

The Grizzlies held a 2-1 lead following doubles after victories on the No. 1 and 3 positions. Senior Melissa Sanders (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North) teamed with freshman Karen Dringenburg (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) to pick up an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles. Junior Emily Helvie (Batesville, Ind./Batesville) and freshman Holyn Eldridge (Goshen, Ind./Concord) won 8-5 on the No. 3 doubles court.

Franklin swept all six singles matches in straight sets to secure the home victory.

Senior Chelsea Howell (West Harrison, Ind./Franklin County) dropped only one game in winning at No. 2 singles. Howell is the reigning HCAC Player of the Week and stands 4-0 in singles this fall.

Senior Emily Roberts (Franklin, Ind./Edinburgh) won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. Classmate Chelsea Platt (Shelbyville, Ind./Morristown) earned a 6-0, 6-1 triumph on the No. 6 court.

Freshman Rachel Rose (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) recorded a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the No. 5 singles position.

Sanders and Dringenburg both won by 6-3, 6-1 set scores on the No. 1 and 3 singles courts respectively.

Franklin returns to action on Wednesday, September 16, at 5 p.m. when it travels to Anderson University for a league contest.