Women's Tennis | 3/10/2020 8:57:00 PM

    HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The West Liberty University women's tennis team lost its first match of the season here Tuesday but still managed to leave a good impression following a 5-2 setback against NCAA Division I George Mason at the Chaplin Park Tennis Center.
    "This was a really good match with a lot of great tennis from both teams," veteran WLU coach Heather Gallagher said. "We picked up a couple of wins in singles and even though we didn't win any matches, the doubles action was pretty exciting."
    Gemma Cliffe and Raissa Wagner picked up the singles wins for WLU. Cliffe, a true freshman, prevailed against the Patriots' Hannah Yang at No. 2 singles. Yang, a three-year letter-winner at GMU who was ranked among the nation's Top 200 coming out of high school, held off Cliffe in a first-set tiebreaker but retired after Cliffe moved out to a 4-2 lead in the second set.
    Wagner, a returning All-MEC sophomore, gutted out a tiebreaker win in the opening set of her No. 3 singles match against Jackie Nannery only to the GMU sophomore bounce back to square the match with a 6-4 win in the second set. Wagner and Nannery locked horns in a hard-fought tiebreaker with Wagner pulling out an 11-9 nod.
    Cliffe and Wagner also impressed at No. 1 doubles, pushing the Patriots' top doubles tandem hard before yielding by a 7-5 count. Luisa Agudelo and Carleyah McLean also played well in a 6-4 loss at No. 3 doubles.
    The Lady Hilltoppers wrap up their Spring Break trip on Wednesday when they take on Georgetown (Ky.).
  Paige La d. Nathalia Valencia 6-0, 6-0
Gemma Cliffe (WLU) d. Hannah Yang 6-7(2), 4-2
Raissa Wagner (WLU) d. Jackie Nannery 7-6(4), 4-6, 1-0(9)
Ashley Fitz-Patrick d. Carleyah McLean 6-4, 6-4
Marium Raza d. Anita Ponti 6-0, 1-0
Isabella Daverio d. Luisa Agudelo 6-2, 6-1 La/Daverio d. Cliffe/Wagner 7-5
Nannery/Yang d. Ponti/Valencia 6-1
Christine McCarthy/Brianna Gibbs d. Agudelo/McLean 6-4