Charleston results | Evansville results
 
ORLANDO – #28 Grand Valley State women's tennis split their two games evenly on Monday in the first day of their Spring Break trip to Florida. The Lakers blanked Charleston (W. Va.) 9-0 Monday morning while they lost a tight 5-4 decision to Evansville in the late afternoon. The Monday split puts the Laker women's record at 16-3 on the season, while Charleston sees their record at 12-4 and Evansville at 3-9.
 
Against the Golden Eagles, the Lakers won easily in doubles competition by not giving up more than two points in any match. Rachel Sumner/Aimee Moccia blanked their opponent in match one, while Madison Ballard/Alexa Sweeney won match two 8-1 and Abby Perkins/Livia Christman took match three 8-2.
 
Of the six wins in singles play, only one required a third set while the other five were won in straight sets. Courtney Lang won the sixth match 6-0, 6-0, while Katarina Samardzija and Christman won their matches 6-1, 6-0, and Nicole Heiniger won the No. 4 match 6-0, 6-2.
 
Taking on the Division I Purple Aces of Evansville, GVSU opened their match by taking a 2-1 lead in doubles play. Sumner/Moccia won the No. 1 match 8-2, while Ballard/Sweeney won the No. 2 match in a tight 9-8 score after winning the tiebreaker 7-3. The Lakers dropped the No. 3 match of Perkins/Christman 9-8, but the two battled throughout before conceding the winning point in a 7-2 tiebreaker.
 
Despite leading after doubles competition, Grand Valley State dropped four of the six singles matches to fall 5-4 to the Purple Aces. The Lakers picked up wins in the No. 1 and No. 4 matches, with Perkins winning 6-4, 6-0 in the first match and Ballard taking match four 7-5, 6-1.
 
The GVSU women hit the courts again on Wednesday when they take on West Chester in Tampa at 10 am.