BISMARCK, N.D. - The University of Mary Women's Tennis team took to the court tonight in their opening match of the 2015 season. The match started off rough and the Marauders couldn't shake the rust off in time as they fell to Minnesota State University Moorhead, 8-1.
 
Kate O'Connell got the lone victory for the Marauders in a singles matchup against Cassie Smith. O'Connell won the first set 6-4, dropped the second set 6-0, but rebounded and came through with a solid performance in the third set with a convincing 10-5 victory.
 
The match began with the doubles teams taking their positions first; Eileen Leong and Meredith Holt were up first for the Marauders and they gave Cassie Smith and Sammie Smith a hard fought rally, but eventually fell 8-5 to the Dragon duo.
 
Kate O'Connell and Anastasia Bruss were on the second court for U-Mary; they took on Rebecca Lukes and Andrea Rognlien but the Marauder pair were ousted 8-1 by the Dragon twosome.
 
Courtney Brackin and Catherine Gibbens got the call on the third court for the Marauders, but Jessamy Jones and Ashley Wood outdid U-Mary's solid performance as the Dragon team took out the Marauder couple, 8-2.
 
Moving on to singles, the Marauders were without their number one player, Sarah Janes, as she was sidelined with an injury and could not compete for tonight's match.
 
Instead, Gibbens got the call at the first position against Sammie Smith, but the Dragon got the upper hand on the Marauder and Gibbens fell, 6-1 and 6-1, in the first singles matchup.
 
Holt came on for U-Mary in the second matchup and gave Andrea Rognlien a good run for her money, but Holt ended up on the losing side of a 6-3 and 6-2 result
 
Bruss moved into the third spot for the Marauders, but she had her hands full with Jessamy Jones and dropped the matchup 6-1 and 6-1 to the tennis player from MSU Moorhead.
 
Leong had an active performance with rallies that lasted well over five swings on each side, but still fell short to Morgan Smith as the Dragon athlete took the match 6-2 and 6-1.
 
Brackin was in the five spot just before O'Connell, and she turned in another strong performance on the night for U-Mary as she took Ashley Wood to three sets. Brackin took the first set from the player from MSU Moorhead 7-6, but dropped the next two sets 6-1 and 10-7.
 
The Marauders (0-1, 0-1 NSIC) are on the road next week when they travel to St. Cloud, Minn., to take on St. Cloud State University on Friday, February 13, and the University of Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, February 14.
 
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