Women's Tennis earns first SLIAC Tourney first-round team victory

Elsah, Ill. - Fontbonne University women's tennis opened the 2017 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament with a 6-0 victory over Blackburn College. 

After arriving to Principia High School, rain began to fall and the decision was made to move the tournament to Principia College in Elsah, Ill. The original start time of 9 a.m. was then pushed back to around 10:30 a.m. 

The win was the first time Fontbonnne women's tennis earned a first-round team victory in the tournament.

Fontbonne swept the Beavers in doubles, with Blackburn's No. -1 duo giving the Griffins some trouble. Mariana Rogers and Hannah Edmundson closed out the sweep with an 8-4 victory while No. 2 and No. 3 doubles wins were both 8-0 for the Griffins. Rogers, Morgan Smith and Nicole Moore defeated their Blackburn opponents at one, two adn four-singles respectively 6-0, 6-0. Jordan Sampson and Edmundson's singles matches were cut short as the Griffins scored enough points to call the match. Sampson was winning 6-1, 3-0 and Edmundson 6-3, 1-0. 

With the win, Fontbonne moved forward to take on Webster University, who as the No. 2-seed had a first-round bye. The Gorloks and Griffins competed in a 3 p.m. matchup with Webster taking the win 5-0. Webster took all three doubles matches and won at No. 1 and No. 5-singles.

Fontbonne will compete in the third-round game around 1:30 p.m. Saturday against the loser of No. 1-seeded Principia and No. 5-seeded Greenville. Greenville defeated Westminster after a four and a half hour first-round contest. It's the first time since 2009 that the Griffins will compete in a third match in the tournament. The winner of Saturday's game will earn third place, the loser fourth place in the double-elimination tournament. Webster and Principia will compete for the SLIAC Tournament title after the third-place match.

Fontbonne is 4-15 on the year, entering their final game of the season. The second-half of the SLIAC Tourney will take place at Kingg's Point, an indoor tennis facility in Belleville, Ill. due to the threat of rain all day tomorrow. 

Fontbonne University 6, Blackburn College 0
Apr 21, 2017 at Elsah, Ill. (Principia College) 

Webster University 5, Fontbonne University 0
Apr 21, 2017 at Elsah, Ill. (Principia College)