The Oglethorpe women's tennis team competed well against visiting Agnes Scott Tuesday on the Downing Howell Courts, especially after falling behind 2-1 after the doubles competition, but the visiting Scotties were too much in the end and the Petrels fell, 5-4.
The Stormy Petrels got behind after the doubles competition, 2-1. Juniors Marcail McGranahan and MaryAnne Hafen fell in the No. 2 doubles match, 8-2. Sophomore Ingrid Wilcox and freshman Halley Sickling answered with an exciting 9-7 victory at No. 3, but Agnes Scott got the No. 1 match over freshman Caroline Johnson and junior Katherine Walker, 9-7, building a 2-1 lead going into singles.
In the singles portion of the proceedings, the Petrels got two quick victories to take the lead over the Scotties. Hafen defeated her opponent 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5 while Sickling won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6, giving Oglethorpe a 3-2 edge. However, MacGranahan fell 7-6(3), 6-1 at No. 3 to tie the dual match score, 3-3, and the Scotties began to come back in the other matches, as well. Walker won her first set at No. 2 but fell in the next two, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Johnson came back to win the second set, but her opponent was just too much at No. 1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. With Agnes Scott having already clinched their fifth match, securing the victory, Wilcox came back to win her No. 4 match, 6-4, 6(4)-7, 6-2, making the final tally 5-4 in favor of Agnes Scott.
"This was a very exciting college match and, as painful as it was to lose, this type of match will help us get better," said Head Coach Peter Howell. "I was very pleased with the bottom half of our lineup, as they all came through with victories. We were so close with a lead at No. 1 doubles and three-set matches at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. With a break, this match could easily have gone our way."
The Petrels will be up in Mount Berry, Ga., on Friday to take on the Vikings at 2 p.m. After that, they'll embark on their spring break trip to Orlando, Fla., where they'll play a variety of teams, including No. 39 Coe, No. 40 Texas-Tyler, Howard Payne, Cornell College and Lake Forest.
