Tennis | 4/2/2016 11:22:00 PM

MSUM-Crookston tennis
MSUM-Bemidji tennis
BISMARCK, N.D. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's tennis team split a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches on Saturday in Bismarck, N.D. The Dragons beat Minnesota Crookston, 8-1 before losing a 5-4 heartbreaker to Bemidji State to close the day.

The Dragons are now 7-6 overall and 6-3 in the NSIC.  MSUM played both matches without No. 3 singles player Maria Moral Carretero, who was out with an injury.

Against Minnesota Crookston, the Dragons won two of three doubles matches and swept all six singles matches. At No. 2 doubles, sophomores Jade Goodyear-Anderson and Ricquel Ramsbottom beat Bailey Morris and Reanne Erickson, 8-0, with senior Morgan Smith and sophomore Jamie Freden rolling to an 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles for the Dragons.

Junior Jessamy Jones picked up a 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) win over UMC's Catherine Brown at No. 1 singles for MSUM. MSUM cruised in the other five matches, surrendering just four games. Goodyear-Anderson beat Whitney Erickson, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles, while Smith cruised past Morris, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3.

Wood beat Reanne Erickson, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles with Ramsbottom beating Emily Campbell, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Freden earned a 6-0, 6-0 win over Tien Nguyen at No. 6 singles to complete the Dragon singles sweep.

Against Bemidji State, the Dragons won just one of three doubles matches and went 3-3 in singles. Wood and Jones picked up the lone doubles win for MSUM, beating Bemidji's tandem of Morgan Opp and Zoe Lindgren, 8-4 at the No. 1 slot. Bemidji won by identical 8-4 scores at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.

In singles, Jones beat Shaylin Prout, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, Goodyear-Anderson beat Deanie Hatch, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Ramsbottom topped Claudia Bellew, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 5.

The closest match was at No. 4 singles, where Lindgren outlasted Wood, 6-2, 3-6, 10-7.

"It was nice to get back to winning ways against Crookston, but with an injury to a key player it was always going to be an uphill struggle against Bemidji," MSUM head coach Oliver Summers said. "We still had some great individual performances and we came so close to pulling it out. I hope we get to play them again at the conference tournament with our full-strength squad."

MSUM resumes action on April 8 at Winona State.