SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Junior Gabriella Alves and senior Arielle Butler both won their singles matches Saturday, but Harding's women's tennis team fell 7-2 to Nebraska-Kearney in a Central Region, neutral site matchup at the Cooper Tennis Center.
Harding dropped to 4-2 with the loss and plays again Sunday against Drury, the 20th-ranked team in Division II. Nebraska-Kearney, ranked No. 5 in the Central Region, improved to 4-3 and won its third straight against Harding.
Nebraska-Kearney won all three doubles matches. It was the third consecutive match that Harding dropped all three doubles. In its last match, Harding was able to overcome the setbacks in doubles and rally to win five of the six singles matches and defeat UAFS. But Harding managed only two singles wins Saturday.
Alves earned Harding's first point quickly in singles. She defeated Amanda Alvarez, the ninth-ranked singles player in the Central Region, by a score of 6-2, 6-3. It was Alves' first career victory over a regionally-ranked opponent.
Nebraska-Kearney, a member of the NCAA Division II MIAA, won the next four singles matches and clinched the victory with Yuxiu Sun's three-set win at No. 1.
Butler won the last completed singles match 7-5, 3-6, 10-7 at No. 5 and became the first Harding player this season to win 10 singles matches.
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