The sixth-ranked Denison women's tennis team swept singles competition en route to knocking off No. 25 Luther College, 8-1, in the opening round of Midwest Invitational on Friday from Madison, Wis.

Senior Marta Drane (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) defeated Luther's Kelsie Allen in a very competitive match at first singles.  Drane won the opening game 6-2, but suffered a 6-4 setback in the second contest.  The two seniors battled hard in the third-set super tiebreaker.  Drane prevailed over Allen via 10-7 decision.  Junior Kristin Cobb (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and sophomores Sarah Short (Cheswick, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Erin Chadwell (Chicago, Ill./Traverse City Central) all won in straight sets at second, third and fourth singles, respectively.  Senior Kara Zdanowski (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) won the first game at No. 5 singles over Cami Czech, and earned the decision after Czech was forced to retire due to injury in the second game.  Kate Westenberger (York, Pa./Dallastown) completed the Big Red's singles sweep with a 7-6, 6-0 victory over Cassandra Chalhoub.

In doubles play, Cobb and Drane cruised to an 8-2 victory over Allen and Brynne Zinnecker at the first flight, while rookies Jane Lent (Glenview, Ill./Cranbrook-Kingswood) and Alex Marcell (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) notched an 8-6 decision over Fran Fairfield and Katy Lindstorm.

DU improves to 8-2 on the year, while Luther falls to 19-5.  Denison returns to action this afternoon when they take on seventh-ranked DePauw University in the semifinals of the Midwest Invitational.