RIPON, Wis. – The Ripon College women's tennis team fought to the end but came up short as it fell 5-4 to Lakeland University this afternoon. The Red Hawks fall to 1-3 on the season while the Muskies move to 1-1 on the year.

Ripon took an early 1-0 lead when Chase Polyak and Emma Ziebell won third doubles, 8-3. The lead did not last long as Lakeland picked up wins at both first and second doubles to take a 2-1 lead going into the singles matches.

The Red Hawks picked up three straight points to start singles action to go up, 4-2. Halle Hadel earned the win at sixth singles (6-2, 6-0) to tie the match at two. Hadley Berendsen put Ripon in front when she claimed the win at fourth singles (6-0, 6-1), and teammate Allison Pavlovec earned the victory at fifth singles (6-4, 6-0) to make it, 4-2.

Lakeland tied the match at four with wins at first and second singles.

Everything came down to third singles when Polyak went to a deciding third set. With the match tied 1-1, the third set saw a combined total of 22 points with Lakeland earning the win 12-10 to win the match overall.

The Red Hawks are back in action this Saturday, Sept. 10 when they host the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 11 A.M.