CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Truman State Tennis team took two out of three matches over the weekend as the Bulldogs defeated Loras College 5-2 and Cornell 4-3 before dropping a 5-2 decision to Coe College.
 
Truman State will begin their Great Lakes Valley Conference slate of matches at home, hosting Rockhurst and William Jewell on April 11-12.
 
Solid tennis was played between the Bulldogs and Loras on Friday, with Truman State coming out on top 5-2.
 
The Bulldogs claimed the doubles point by taking all three matches.
 
Sydney Dial won 6-3, 6-0 at number one, and Nayana Malangi defeated her opponent 6-3, 6-4 to take the number two singles match.
 
Finley LaForge won in a third-set tiebreaker at number four singles, and Mary Grace Seymore won in straight sets at number five.
 
The Bulldogs edged out Cornell 4-3 in a razor-thin contest to start Saturday. The top two doubles matches needed extra points before being decided, with Dial and Nayana winning 7-5 and Akansha Negi and Abbi Worster prevailing 7-6 at number two.
 
Cornell tied the match at one with a win at number five singles, and the two teams exchanged points, with the Bulldogs taking number four and Cornell winning at number three.
 
Worster came back from 5-6 down in set one to win 7-6 and grabbed set two 6-3 to make it 3-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
 
Needing a point in one of the two top singles matches, Dial delivered with a gutsy 4-6, 6-4, 12-10 win to give Truman the match victory.
 
Things started strong in the weekend finale, with Dial and Malangi winning 6-4 at number one and Mary Grace Seymore and Finley LaForge winning 6-1 at number three to take the doubles point.
 
However, strong singles play by the Kohawks enabled Coe to take the dual. Dial and Malangi were forced into third-set tiebreakers before each falling, and Seymore lost 7-6 in the second set at number five, trying to force a tiebreaker. Akansha Negi picked up the singles win at number three.