| Box Score 2 PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – It was a long and challenging slate for the Otterbein women's tennis lineup over the weekend, squaring off against three formidable opponents as the Cards keep building their strength of schedule.

The Cardinals split matches with No. 10-ranked Carnegie Mellon and Oberlin on Saturday before returning to campus and hosting Transylvania, which left with a narrow victory by one court.

CMU tallied a 9-0 victory at Aspen Racquet Club against a shorthanded Otterbein lineup, but the Cardinals regrouped to beat Oberlin in a 5-4 final. The Cards won three courts by virtue of Oberlin (playing with just four players) withdrawing.

Erin Storrer racked up a notable win regionally against Marta Laska, overcoming a loss in a second-set breaker and then fighting through some pain in the third set to win 6-2. She and Lillia Walter also had to use everything possible at first doubles, escaping Laska and Anna Pastore 8-7 after a narrow (8-6) breaker.

Walter went to three sets with Pastore individually, winning the middle frame 6-3 but not having enough juice in the winner-take-all.

Transylvania then escaped the Clements Center in a Sunday matinee' after winning two doubles courts and another three in singles. Walter and Aubrey McMahon kept the Cards close after doubles by taking the second line 8-5.

Storrer had another tough challenge at first singles against Katherine Taylor, who won the first and third sets to hold off Otterbein's top gun. Walter (6-3, 6-3) and Cassady Shough (6-3, 6-0) cruised in their matches while Olivia Eckels fought and scraped her way to a 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 decision after outlasting Maddy Williams in a 10-8 breaker.

Otterbein now stands 3-4 as a team leading into spring break down in Orlando, where a handful of matches with Schreiner, Misericordia and Ursinus are currently on the slate.

Stay tuned for more coverage in Florida!