The No. 18 University of Redlands women's tennis team earned split results on the opening day of the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament in Claremont by defeating the No. 33 Chapman University Panthers, 5-2, before suffering a sweeping loss to the No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athenas.

The day began with a hard-fought 2-1 advantage in the doubles matches against the Panthers.  Redlands' No. 3 duo of senior Maddie Morton (Henderson, NV) and junior Gabriela Vasquez (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) initiated the scoring with a solid 8-2 showing, while the top tandem of senior Ceara Sumida (Hilo, HI) and junior Natalie Etchegaray (Placentia, CA) came away with a 9-7 decision.  Although Chapman answered with a win at No. 2, the Bulldogs held a slight 2-1 advantage to start the singles matches.

Vasquez kept things rolling for the Maroon and Gray with her 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 5, before Etchegaray cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win at the top slot.

Although the Panthers prevailed at No. 3, sophomore Emily Murnin (Salt Lake City, UT) put this one in the books for the Bulldogs, as she rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 4.

The Maroon and Gray moved on to the SCIAC semifinals against the top-seeded Athenas.  Although the Bulldogs battled, they came up short at every position.  Sumida and Etchegaray recorded the closest doubles match at No. 1 with an 8-4 loss, while Etchegaray pushed her No. 1 singles opponent to 7-5 in the first set. 

Redlands (13-8, 6-4 SCIAC) now looks forward to avenging an earlier-season loss to the No. 23 University of La Verne by battling it out against the Leopards in Saturday's third-place match of the tournament.  First serve is slated for 10 a.m. at CMS.