APPLETON, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's tennis program opened Midwest Conference play on Saturday, falling 4-3 at Lawrence in a tightly contested match.
 
Ripon (1-7, 0-1 MWC) started blazing hot against Lawrence (3-2, 1-0 MWC) by winning the doubles point and sweeping all three courts. Hadley Berendsen and Chase Polyak were 6-4 winners on court two and Allison Pavlovec and Catherine Skoglund were 6-3 victors on the third court. To finish off doubles, Josie Rondestvedt and Tia Endrizzi teamed up for a tie-breaking, 7-6 (3) win on the top court.
 
Ripon won three first sets in singles, but the Vikings won a pair of third-set matches on courts three and four in addition to straight-set wins on the top two lines.
 
Pavlovec defeated Fanta Jatta 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in comeback fashion on court five, while Isabella Engstrom was a 7-5, 7-6 (1) winner on the sixth line.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon opens its 2024-25 home slate on Sunday, facing Lake Forest at 9 a.m. Weather permitting, the match will be held at the Ripon High School Tennis Courts across the street from Ingalls Field. In case of inclement weather, the match will be inside the Willmore Center.
 
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