LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's tennis team won four of the six matches against Georgetown College that were contested Friday night, but due to unfortunate circumstances for the Knights they lost 4-5 at the Lexington Top Seed Tennis Club.

Juniors Jennifer Skonieczny and Ashley Jonathan were stricken with sickness and did not compete. In addition to lineup shuffling, the Knights had to forfeit one doubles match and two singles contests. Bellarmine (3-1) won the two contested doubles matches, but Georgetown (2-1) managed to win half of the four contested singles battles to secure the win for the first time against the Knights since 2008.

Bellarmine senior Maggie Walroth and sophomore Ava Ratcliff captured an 8-6 win over Amanda Moore and Maci Ferguson at No. 1 doubles, and freshman Madison Devillez and sophomore Aubrey Smith defeated Lauren Fazenbaker and Katie Swanson 8-3 at No. 2.

Ratcliff and Smith tallied straight sets wins at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, but the Tigers won at Nos. 1 and 2.

"Whatever the circumstances, (Georgetown) Coach (Jessica) Cunningham always has her teams prepared to give their all and they deserved the win," Knights Coach John Mican said. "We won four out of the six matches we played, and we still fought like champions to give ourselves a chance to win the team match. It was apparent that our renewed commitment to conditioning paid off as there were many arduous points in the singles matches. We look forward to getting all the players healthy again as three of the next four matches are against tough DII opponents. 

"I can't say enough about the way Ava and Aubrey stepped up," Mican added. "They both played some inspired tennis against strong competition, which should instill confidence moving forward. Madison Devillez played spectacular in the No. 2 spot albeit in a losing effort. Madison made some adjustments and really pushed her opponent, which was super impressive especially considering that she had been playing in the No. 6 spot all fall." 

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