The Oglethorpe women's tennis team fell to Birmingham-Southern Saturday in a tough contest against the SAA opponent at the Downing Howell Courts.

The Stormy Petrels were swept in the doubles matches of the day, leaving the team to face a tough uphill climb in singles. Freshman Caroline Johnson and junior Katherine Walker, playing in the No. 1 doubles spot, were tied at 7-7 in their match and were leading 40-15 to go up 8-7, but the Birmingham-Southern duo broke Walker's serve before eventually taking the match 9-7. Freshman Marcail McGranahan and junior MaryAnne Hafen in the No. 2 doubles spot and sophomore Ingrid Wilcox and freshman Halley Sickling in the No. 3 spot both fell in tough matches to the Panthers that led to a 3-0 BSC lead heading into singles matches.

The Petrels fought hard in the singles competition, but only went 2-4 on those, as well.  No. 1 Johnson fell in a difficult contest with her Panther counterpart who won 6-1, 6-1; Walker lost in the No. 2 spot 6-2, 6-4, and McGranahan was defeated in a 6-0, 6-0 match against the BSC No. 3. Wilcox lost 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 4 spot, which left the Petrels with losses in their first four singles matches. But MaryAnne Hafen gave OU their first win of the match with a 4-6, 7-5, 10-6 three-set victory. No. 6 Halley Sickling collected a win as well, defeating her opponent 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 10-8.

Head Coach Peter Howell gave his thoughts about the match: "Losing all three doubles hurt, and we were overpowered at the top of their lineup. I was pleased with the effort, and especially Hafen and Sickling coming back to win."

The Petrels will go to 5-8 and 0-2 in SAA competition after the loss to the Panthers. The team will play against SAA opponent Millsaps Sunday on the Downing Howell Courts at 1 p.m.