PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Feb. 16, 2013) – The Saint Francis U women's tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision to Drexel on Saturday, becoming the latest victim in the Dragons' five-match winning streak. Drexel has not lost a match this season and swept SFU in all spots.

“We scouted Drexel and knew they were strong in every position,” said Red Flash coach Paul Tobin. “The conditions were not right for our women who had difficulty playing in the slick courts and low lighting. I am not saying we could have won, but Drexel certainly had the home court advantage.”

Action came at several positions but not enough to muster up a point. Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Shivani Patel (Leicestershire, England/Repton School) at no. 2 doubles for SFU had two break point opportunities to go up 4-2 in doubles but failed to convert. Patel unable to hold serve allowed the Dragons' Nicole Pivonka and Emma Brook to break, tying it up at 4-4. The Flash duo never found its place at the net and gave up four additional games to go down 8-5.

At no. 3 doubles, Danielle Gryckiewicz (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Academy) and Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad) came back from a 5-1 deficit to close in at 5-4 to Drexel's Alex Bell and Aysenil Orhon. Saint Franics, on serve and at 40-15, failed to close out the game allowing Drexel to take a 6-4 lead. SFU was not able to break the Dragon women and the only service hold came at 7-5.

“We don't look confident out there,” said Tobin. “We have to figure out how to pull out upsets against these better teams. Visually, they're not that much stronger than we are. We are still having difficulty controlling returns and dominating net positions.”

In singles action, the Red Flash held its own but couldn't close out key opportunities. Several matches were tight and could have changed the outcome, giving SFU some points.

Lucy Jasso (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Instituto Potosino) playing at no. 3 against Drexel's Nicole Pivonka had nothing to give her first set but managed to pull things around in the second. Finding herself up 4-3 and on serve, Jasso let go of game point taking it back to deuce. Pivonka came back with a return winner giving Drexel break point. Jasso, on a hesitant second serve, came up short when Pivonka ripped the return painting the doubles line. Tied at 4-4, Pivonka easily held to go up 5-4. Jasso fought back to hold at 5-5 but lost the next two games as Pivonka stepped up and increased the pace.

Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas), no. 4 for Red Flash, was up for most of the match but let an important service game go at 7-6, tying things up at 6-6. Sachs, up against Drexel junior Alex Bell, failed to break trailing 7-6. Up 30-15 and on serve, Sachs double faulted. Sachs then failed to hold her next serve giving Bell match point. With a return winner from Bell the match closed at 8-6.

T'was almost the same scenario for no. 6 SFU player Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad). Leading for most of the match against Drexel sophomore Aysenil Orhon, Diaz failed to hold serve at a 6-5. Unable to break, Diaz quickly found herself down 7-5. Diaz came back to 7-6 after leading 40-0 on serve. Down 40-15, Diaz fought back two match points to tie things up at deuce. Unable to continue her run, Diaz lost the game and set 8-6.

“Drexel's coaching staff did a great job bringing tremendous depth to the team,” said Tobin. “We had opportunities at the bottom half of the lineup but just came up short. Drexel is on a five-match winning streak – we had to play our 'A' game in all spots.”