LYNCHBURG, VA --- Sweet Briar College made the short commute to cross-town rival Lynchburg College on Tuesday afternoon for an early week tennis conference match.  Both squads feature a number of underclasswomen; the SBC duo of sophomore Emma Merritt-Cuneo (Pacifico, Calif./Oceana) and first-year Rachel Byrd (Matthews, Va./Matthews) earned the lone doubles win. First-year Allie Raifsnider (Concord, N.C./Jay M. Robinson) added another victory for the Vixens in singles play while Byrd tallied her first career spring season singles victory in the team's 3-6 loss.

Merritt-Cuneo and Byrd, playing as doubles partners for the first time in their careers, upended the #2 Lynchburg doubles team of Kelsey Bergen (Virginia Beach, Va./Cape Henry Collegiate) and Berry Morse (Manchester by the Sea, Mass./Brocks School).  On the singles side of the score sheet Byrd and Raifsnider played to victories at the third and fourth spots respectively.  Byrd bested sophomore Besty Stipa (Oak Hill, Va./Chantilly) and Raifsnider rallied for the win over Morse.

Raifsnider's rally came when she was down a set and fought back to win the second.  In the third set with the score 1-4, the rough and tumble Raifsnider came back to tie up the score.  With the sun setting and both players battling locked at 4 all, Raifsnider served well and converted points to become the eventual winner by the score of 10-8.

On the opening match play, head coach Teresa Boylan commented that her young Vixen squad made a good showing.  "I am pleased with our conditioning. We will work on limiting unforced errors and focus on ground stroke consistency."

Vixen Tennis returns to action at the week's end when the team hosts back-to-back matches on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3. 

Doubles

#1 Drinkard/Stipa (LC) d. Manter/Raifsnider (SBC)  8-4

#2 Merritt-Cuneo/Byrd (SBC) d. Bergen/Morse (LC) 8-4

#3 Dixon/Bettencourt (LC) d. Rigg/Todd (SBC) vs 8-3

Singles

#1 Bergen d. Manter 6-3, 6-3

#2 Drinkard d. Merritt-Cuneo 6-2, 6-3

#3 Byrd d. Stipa 6-4, 6-2

#4 Raifsnider d. Morse 1-6, 6-4, 5-4 (10-8)

#5 Dixon d. Rigg 6-3, 6-4

#6 Bettencourt d. Todd 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

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