WESTLAKE, Ohio-- Denison opened its 2018 dual schedule on Friday night with a 9-0 loss to the nation's ninth-ranked team, the University of Chicago.
The Big Red and the Maroons opened with a competitive round of doubles play. At third doubles, Denison's Courtney Brown and Madeline Hart took Chicago's Alyssa Rudin and Estefania Navarro to a tiebreaker, eventually falling 9-8 (7). At No. 2 doubles, Megan Hickey and Ashley Hammons took Laura Gutierrez and Catherine Xu to the brink before falling, 9-7. Chicago picked up the first point of the match with a victory at first doubles over Denison's Lauren Hawley and Emma Alsup, 8-4.
In singles play, Denison's Charlotte Purnode fell in a third-set tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-2, 10-7 against Gutierrez. Hammons fell in two sets, 7-6 (4), 6-2. At No. 1 singles, Hawley dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision to the region's 14th ranked player, Marjorie Antohi and Alsup fell to fourth-ranked Claire Handa, 6-2, 6-0.
Denison returns to action on Saturday when they face Trinity (Texas) in North Ridgeville, Ohio at 4 p.m.
