Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (May 4, 2023) - Earning a decisive 5-0 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the North Central College women's tennis team used a sweep of doubles play to secure their spot in the second round.

Kensington Payne and Anastasia Bozovic claimed the first win of the day with an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles. No. 7 Abigail Penados and Natalie Bassett picked up an 8-3 win at No. 1 over the No. 12 ranked doubles team in the Region, Amanda Lopykinski and Sullivan Moran. To complete the doubles sweep, Mikayla Edquiban and Nina Patience battled to an 8-6 win at No. 3.

Edquiban rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the No. 4 position to bring the Cardinals within one point of clinching the match. Doing just that, Bassett secured a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 2 fixture to give North Central a 5-0 win over Hope. Penados and Patience each won their first set prior to the Cardinals winning the match.

The Cardinals will take on the host No. 14 Carnegie Mellon University tomorrow at 10 a.m. (ET). This is the first matchup between the two schools in program history. 

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