The Patriot women’s tennis team managed to secure their first Peach Belt Conference (PBC) win of the season by downing the Lander Bearcats 7-2 at Kassab Courts.

Of their three doubles matchups, the women managed to take victory in two of these games with the 13th ranked pairing of Marie Kruger and Elisa Lang winning their game at the No. 1 doubles spot and Anna Wintrich and Sofia Henning taking home an initially tight game at the No. 2 spot.

It was business as usual for Krueger and Lang in their matchup as they brought home an 8-0 victory.

It has been an impressive start to the season for this pairing as they continue their drive up the national rankings and as a driving force for the lady Patriots.

Henning and Wintrich began their doubles matchup in confident fashion getting off to a fast start;  however, the Bearcat pairing of Isabella Schulz and Nelli Lius clawed their way back into the game to push Wintrich and Henning all the way. It took a resilient approach to the game for Wintrich and Henning to secure this key early victory in the day of play against the Bearcats.

It was in single play the lady Patriots ensured victory with straight-set wins at the No. 1, 2 and 4 spots.

Krueger took home her game at the No. 1 spot, Henning also took home her game at the No. 2 spot in straight sets while Wintrich took home her game at the No. 4 spot. Lander only managed to secure one victory in singles play at the No. 3 spot.

Wins also came for the Patriot women at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions for Magan Head and Lesshika Vala. Head, at No. 5, took her game after her opponent was forced to retire in the second set and Vala took her game home in four sets despite dropping the second set.

Conditions were difficult for both sides as the sun beamed down on Kassab Courts. The wind drove cross-court making it difficult to find rhythm and composure.

The victory sees the Patriot Women open up their three-match home weekend by improving their record to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in PBC competition.

Since its still the early part of the season for the Patriots, things still remain open with a lot of competition still to come this spring. The women will want to capitalize on this first conference victory by translating it into a potentially vital string of wins.

The women will continue their season with two conference games before moving on to a series of four non-conference matches.

A matchup with local division one outfit Coastal Carolina University will come at the end of the month and will be a good indicator of the progress the team is making.

The Patriot women currently find themselves in a fairly commanding position in the region, currently ranked at No 3. A string of important wins against some good competition could see them rank even higher which could be vital for the postseason. Continuing their command of single play is going to be a key component to any success that could potentially lie ahead of them.

The next lady Patriots match will take place at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 10 against the Augusta University Jaguars.