OWATONNA, Minnesota – The Ripon women's tennis program split a pair of matches on Saturday inside the Owatonna Tennis, Pickleball, and Fitness Center, falling 5-2 to Martin Luther before rebounding to defeat Crown 6-1.
 
Against Martin Luther (2-2), Ripon (2-14) struck first when Josie Rondestvedt and Tia Endrizzi teamed up for a 6-1 win on court one. MLC took court two, which left court three to decide the doubles point. Jessica Griepentrog and Isabella Engstrom secured a tight 6-4 win to give the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
 
The Knights tied the match at one with a straight-set win on court one to open singles. However, Endrizzi gave Ripon the lead back with a 6-3, 6-4 court two triumph. Martin Luther secured straight-set wins on courts four, five and six, coupled with a three-set win on court three, to win 5-2.
 
Against Crown (0-5), the Red Hawks again took the early lead by winning the doubles point. Though the Polars claimed a win on court one, Ripon picked up wins on two and three. Allison Pavlovec and Catherine Skoglund won 6-2 on court two, while Griepentrog and Engstrom picked up their second victory of the day with a 6-3 triumph on the third line.
 
Ripon won five of six first sets in singles, and picked up five straight-set wins. Skoglund was a 6-0, 6-4 winner on court two, while Pavlovec won 6-4, 6-4 on the fourth line. Isabella DeMeuse defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-1 on the fifth line and Ella Clark was a 6-1, 6-1 victor on court six.
 
Griepentrog won her first set and battled back to claim a 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 victory on the third court to round out the day.
  
NEXT UP: Ripon next competes at St. Norbert on Sunday, March 2. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.
 
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