KNOXVILLE, Tn- The Royals women's tennis team competed against the Mississippi University for Women Thursday afternoon. After taking a 2-1 lead after the doubles matchups, the Royals won 5 or 6 singles matches to take the match 7-2. 

The Royals jumped out to a quick start on the top court with Sophomore Paola Testa and Junior Lauren Murray only dropping one game en route to a 8-1 win. The other two doubles courts would be a much more back and forth affair. While the Royals would drop the matchup on court 2, Court 3 would use strong serving and net play to comeback from an early 1-3 deficit. The pair of Sophomore Halle Leslie and Freshman Haley Thompson would give the Royals the early edge after doubles winning 8-5. 

Singles would see a handful of dominant wins to give the Royals more momentum as sophomores Paola Testa and Cait Bowling would take the number 1 and 3 courts. Now up 4-1, Murray would clinch the match at the 2 spot after grinding out a close win 7-6, 6-3. The Royals would cap off the win with victories by Haley Thompson and Halle Leslie on the 5th and 6th singles courts. 

Coach Hale had this to say after the match, "That really was a good first match for us as we picked up the win while getting pushed on multiple courts. I don't feel like we played doubles up to our expectations, but when the match was on the line our #3 team stepped up and we battled well to get the advantage coming into singles. Once we got into singles, we looked a little more comfortable which was good to see. I look forward to building on this momentum as we go into more fall matches." 

The Royals are back in action when they travel to Ferrum College on September 23rd.