MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College women's tennis team dropped to 0-2 on the season after an 8-1 loss to Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday afternoon at the Trent J. Scott '96 Tennis Courts. With the victory, the Lions start the year in the win column at 1-0.

Eastern Nazarene got out to a hot start, sweeping all three sets in doubles play. At first doubles, Emily Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) and Magdalena Hubel (Berlin, Germany) topped the Colonel pair of Sophia Wiernusz (Collegeville, Pa.) and Alison Daigle (Edgartown, Mass.) by a score of 8-3. Sharon Biondi (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Veronica Jimenez (Lynn, Mass.) blanked Natalie Valvo (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Sara Johnson (Amesbury, Mass.) 8-0 at second. In the closest set of doubles, Maria Busila (Malaga, Spain) and Makayla Grantham (Apalachian, N.Y.) outdistanced Curry's Samantha Gilbert (Bedford, Mass.) and Kelsie Merrill (Hope, Maine) by a score of 8-6.

After cruising to a 3-0 edge, the Lions' strong play continued into singles. At first, Biondi edged Wiernusz 6-3, 6-1. Ruttkowski shut out Daigle 6-0, 6-0 at second, while Hubel topped Valvo at third by the same score. Johnson took Busila to 12 games in the first set of fourth singles, but Busila came away with a 7-5, 6-0 victory. At fifth, Jimenez defeated Gilbert 6-2, 6-0 for the Lion's eighth point of the contest, but Merrill avoided the match sweep and earned the first Colonel point of the afternoon by beating out Grantham in a super tiebreaker, with a final score of 6-4, 3-6, 10-2.

Eastern Nazarene heads back to Quincy to take on St. Joseph (Conn.) in their home opener on Saturday, September 7 at 1:00 p.m. The Colonels hit the road for the first time this season and will continue their non-conference schedule when they face Rhode Island College this Thursday, September 5. Doubles play is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.

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