Box Score

Oberlin, Ohio – Division II Ashland University proved to be no match for the Oberlin College women's tennis team as the Yeowomen dealt the Eagles a 7-2 defeat on Wednesday night at the John W. Heisman Field House. It was Oberlin's first win against the yearly foe since earning a 6-3 triumph on February 28, 2007.
 
The Yeowomen set the tone early by winning two of three doubles matches and nearly made it a clean sweep. Farah Leclercq and Grace Porter were 8-5 victors in the top spot, while Preeya Shah and Brenna Sheldon blanked the tandem of Marti Baca and Andrea Ruiz 8-0 at No. 2. In the third slot, the rookie pairing of Erin Johnson and Ariana Abayomi raced out to a 6-1 lead, but the Eagles' duo of Daniela Alves and Sally Trout fought all the way back to even the match before earning a 9-8 victory, taking the tiebreak 7-5.
 
In singles play Leclercq did not face much resistance at No. 1 against Erika Sullivan en route to earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory. Sheldon won the first set 6-4 and was up 4-1 in the second at No. 2 before her opponent Kira Kotova was forced to withdraw from the match.
 
Porter, who has started in spots two, three and four so far this spring, was matched up against Ruiz at No. 4 and cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win.
 
After dropping a heartbreaker in doubles, both Johnson and Abayomi regrouped to win their respective singles matches. Johnson set aside Alves 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5, while Abayombi dispatched Trout 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6.
 
“We played some great tennis tonight,” Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis said. “To beat a team as high quality as Ashland says a lot about where we are right now as a team. It was my first time beating them since coming here and it has been goal of ours after being so close in previous years. We are going to need to build off of this win as this weekend coming up is our most challenging of the season to date.”
 
The Yeowomen travel west to take NCAC West member and the defending conference champions in DePauw University on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before tangling with the University of Chicago on Saturday in Greencastle. DePauw is currently ranked No. 8 in the country, while Chicago is fifth.