Knoxville, TN – The University of the Cumberlands women's tennis team opened the spring season with a challenging road matchup, falling 1–6 to No. 5 Tennessee Wesleyan on Thursday morning at the Goodfriend Tennis Center. 

The Patriots faced an uphill battle in doubles play as the Bulldogs swept all three positions to take the opening point. At No. 1 doubles, Olivia Alcala and Ana Isabela Serrano defeated Marina Nagai and Haruna Kojima, while Ivet Prat and Ruslana Kovalenko topped YuFang Liu and Rion Yanuma at No. 2. Tennessee Wesleyan closed doubles play with a win at No. 3 as Honoka Tsuji and Laia Berne earned a 5–2 decision over Mahiro Hara and Bryndis Rosa. 

Singles play featured several tightly contested matches, with Cumberlands earning its lone point at No. 6 singles. Rion Yanuma secured a straight-set victory over Ana Isabela Serrano to put the Patriots on the board. 

At the top of the lineup, No. 1 singles went the distance as Marina Nagai pushed Ruslana Kovalenko to a third-set super tiebreak before narrowly falling, 11–9. No. 3 singles also required a deciding set, where Laia Berne outlasted Mahiro Hara, while No. 4 saw Ivet Prat edge Haruna Kojima in another super tiebreak finish. 

Tennessee Wesleyan rounded out singles action with wins from Olivia Alcala over Bryndis Rosa at No. 2 and Honoka Tsuji over YuFang Liu at No. 5. 

Despite the final score, the Patriots showed resilience throughout the lineup against a nationally ranked opponent in the season opener. 

Cumberlands will return to action on February 6 when the Patriots travel to Harrogate, Tennessee, to compete in the LMU Indoor Invite. The first match is scheduled for 10:00 AM against Tusculum.  

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