Laura Haley

Sarah Duran

The College of Wooster women's tennis team opened its five-match spring break slate at Hilton Head Island, S.C., with respective 6-3 and 7-2 victories over Concordia University (Wis.) and Webster University on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At 7-1, the Fighting Scots are off to the best start in program history in the North Coast Athletic Conference era (post-1984), having surpassed the 1988 team, which opened the season at 6-2 before finishing at 12-5. The Scots are two wins away from matching last year's win total and three wins from reaching double-digit victories for the first time since 2004.

On Tuesday against Concordia (10-2), the Scots took two of three doubles matches, starting with an 8-2 win from sophomore Shannon Sertz and first-year Laura Haley at the No. 2 slot.

Sophomore Joy Li and senior Morgan Wagers improved to 6-1 in dual matches at No. 1 with an 8-6 win.

In singles, Sertz and Li each took home straight-set victories at No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, before two straight wins from Concordia at No. 5 and No. 6 cut the lead to 4-3 with first-year Sarah Duran at No. 2 and Wagers at No. 4 still on the court. 

Duran went on to clinch the team win with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Concordia's Elizabeth Carroll, while Wagers lost the first set, 5-7, to Bailey Kelly, who then retired before the start of the second set.

On Wednesday against Webster (3-3), again the Scots took two of three doubles matches before dominating singles play, winning five of six.

At No. 3 doubles, Duran and sophomore Mali Zemedkun won 8-1 to improve to 3-1 on the year together. At No. 2, Sertz and Haley improved to 6-2 on the year with an 8-6 win.

In singles, Zemedkun notched her fifth win in seven matches at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-0 victory, followed by Duran, who battled back from a 4-6 second-set loss to ultimately win 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (6).

Sertz fell in three sets at No. 3 before Wagers clinched the team victory with a three-set comeback win, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (8). Li remained perfect on the year at No. 1, improving to 8-0 in dual matches with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Webster's Monica Berhle before Haley earned her fifth win of the year at No. 5 with a 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (3) win.

Up next, Wooster plays Indiana University East (7-2) on Friday, March 14 at 9 a.m. in Hilton Head.