CINCINNATI – After dropping the three doubles matches, the Northern Kentucky University women's tennis team could only muster a singles win by Michelle Schirmann as the Norse were defeated 6-1 by Xavier University Wednesday afternoon at the Xavier Tennis Courts.
NKU (14-6), which is the 34th-ranked team in NCAA Division II according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, lost the first and third doubles flights by the same 8-3 score. Schirmann and teammate Kristen Sunday nearly won their doubles match over Jill Ducro and Aylin Seyalioglu, but the Xavier duo won the tiebreak to take the match 8-7 (7-5).
Schirmann, a graduate of Mother of Mercy High School, improved her overall singles record to 10-9 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kelsey Kinnard. The win was Schirmann's second consecutive in as many days as she downed Alena Perez-Majul of the University of Indianapolis in Great Lakes Valley Conference play Tuesday.
Xavier (15-7) receive decisive victories from four of the remaining five singles matches as the Norse could only muster the one point from Schirmann's victory.
Maggie Koetter's 12-match win streak was snapped by Jeanette Feider 6-1, 6-1.
NKU's closest singles loss came when Jillian Sturgeon was defeated by Kaitlyn Zinn 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
The Norse will be back in action Friday at 2 p.m. as they host the University of Southern Indiana at the Joyce E. Yeager Tennis Complex. The NKU women's team will be looking to stay in second place in the GLVC standings after clinching a tournament berth on Tuesday while the men's team can punch their ticket to the GLVC tournament with a victory over the Screaming Eagles.
