By Lindsey Regruto

Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team put up a strong start against Navy in its Patriot League opener, but couldn’t pull out the win, falling 5-2.

The Orange and Blue secured the doubles point, winning two of three matches. Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 pulled out a 9-7 win at No. 1 doubles, while Courtney Casey ’12 and Lydia Colvin ’15 secured the doubles point for the Bison with another tight win (8-6) in the No. 2 position. Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Jen Bush ’15 played a great match to almost sweep the doubles position but fell 9-8 to their Navy opponent at third doubles.

“It was a tough match for us against Navy,” Vidrascu said. “I don’t think that it was necessarily because they were better. We have the players, we have the talent, we just need the confidence.”

In singles, Iepuras earned the lone victory for the Orange and Blue, defeating her opponent decisively 6-3 in two sets. Iepuras’s win brings her tied for eighth in program history for total wins with a record of 106-84. Vidrascu took her match to three sets, winning the first 6-4 but dropping the last two. The Bison couldn’t pull another win in singles, dropping matches in spots two through six.

“We have all been working really hard,” Vidrascu said. “We’re better than the outcome we’ve been showing this spring […] and I look forward to having our dual match [against Navy] during Patriot League Championships.”

About halfway through their season, the Bison have earned just two victories in 13 games and are about to enter in the most important stretch. Over the next three weeks, the team will take on four Patriot League opponents starting with Colgate on April 6.

Before then, the Bison will face Georgetown today and Mount Saint Mary’s tomorrow.