Women's Tennis | 3/18/2015 2:41:00 AM

PALM BEACH, Fla. – In a matchup that looked equal on paper, proved to be as much on the court as #33 St. Edward's fell in a tight contest to #32 Palm Beach Atlantic, 5-4, Tuesday morning at the Mitch Gornto Tennis Center.
 
St. Edward's (7-2) got off to a great start, winning all three doubles matches. At number three doubles, the Hilltopper team of Rafaela Hagele and MARISSA WILLIAMS trailed the Sailfish team, 6-1. They would battle back to draw even, while fighting off a match point along the way. They would end up winning in a tiebreaker, 9-8.
 
In singles play, Palm Beach Atlantic (10-5) got off to a great start, winning in straight sets in four of the six matches to take a 4-3 lead. At number four singles, FRANCESCA CHAHER lost a hard-fought match to Leyla Taracena, 6-2, 6-4. That would clinch the team match for Palm Beach Atlantic, but not before IVANA ZECEVIC took down Maja Jovic, 6-2, 5-7, 10-6, for the final margin, 5-4.
 
"The loss definitely stings a little because I thought we set ourselves up for a good chance to win by winning all three of the doubles," head coach Kendall Brooks said. "Palm Beach Atlantic came out really strong in singles and just played better than us on most of the courts."
 
Brooks went on to say, "This was a good experience for us as we haven't been in many tight matches, so we will learn from it and build on it as we move forward in our season. There are still two very tough matches to go this week and we are looking forward to getting back out on the court."
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Wednesday when they take on #10 Nova Southeastern. First-serve is set for 2:30 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.