BALTIMORE, Md. (March 12, 2011) – With a new-look lineup, the Saint Francis University women's tennis team earned its first win of the season, 6-1, over Coppin State at the brand new CSU Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon.

Laura Husband (Dawson, Pa./Connellsville Area) and Maya Ranchod (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln ) started things off with a convincing, 8-1, win over the Eagles' Lauretta Mukam and Shena Brownell. Coppin State responded with a win by default over the short-handed Flash at No. 2 doubles, however Tina Miller and Devynn Sarver (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Fraser) responded with an, 8-0, win to clinch doubles play for Saint Francis.

"The women showed me that they can close out matches when they need to,” said head coach Paul Tobin. “This is the first time I have seen our women completely dominate in doubles, closing points at the net and maintaining high first serve percentages. But they're going to have to play much smarter against Loyola and Morgan State next weekend"

The momentum carried over to singles play with Husband taking the No. 1 spot, 6-0, 6-4. Impressively, the four points conceded by Husband in the second set was the only scoring the Eagles would do for the rest of the afternoon.

Ranchod, Sarver, Miller and Beza Dejene (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Lycee Franco-Ethiopien Guebre Mariam) all won 6-0, 6-0. CSU's Courtney Clark salvaged her team's only point of the day, winning by default in No. 6 singles.

"All I can say is 'wow,'” said Tobin. “We've had a challenging season and it's so nice to see them win this big. I am hoping they can sustain this momentum during the second part of our season with important conference matches.

“We, obviously, can't take anything for granted and will be back on the practice courts next week working on consistency and pattern plays."

Saint Francis will return to action, and Baltimore, when it visits Morgan State on Saturday.


Saint Francis 6, Coppin State 1
Singles
1.) Laura Husband (Dawson, Pa./Connellsville Area) (SFU) def. Lauretta Mukam 6-0, 6-4
2.) Maya Ranchod (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln ) (SFU) def. Shena Brownell 6-0, 6-0
3.) Devynn Sarver (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Fraser) (SFU) def. Jennifer Mitchell 6-0, 6-0
4.) Tina Miller (SFU) def. Hafsatu Kamara 6-0, 6-0
5.) Beza Dejene (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Lycee Franco-Ethiopien Guebre Mariam) (SFU) def. Ashley Bacote 6-0, 6-0
6.) Courtney Clark (CSU) won by default

Doubles
1.) Husband/Ranchod (SFU) def. Mukam/Brownell 8-1
2.) Kamara/Mitchell (CSU) won by default
3.) Miller/Sarver (SFU) def. Bacote/Clark 8-0