Southwestern Women's Tennis got a huge win under their belt on Sunday, February 26, 2023. The Southwestern Women's Tennis team defeated California Tech 6-3, after Taylor Despriet clinched at line four. 

In the first three matches of doubles, Seniors Nina Mitrofanova and Emma Kesterson breezed through their match, winning 8-1. Senior Taylor Despriet and Sophomore Lauren Chisholm got up quickly then faced some adversity in closing. However, the two were able to get an important win, 8-4. Senior Alli Ziehm and Sophomore Lydia Lee faced a challenging match and unfortunately were not able to pull out the win. Coach Porter was pleased overall that the Pirates gained the lead in doubles stating, "We played really good doubles overall. We let one slip away at #3 but going up 2-1 in this setting was key."  

Doubles put the Pirates up 2-1, turning everyone's attention to the importance of the singles matches.

Both Alli Ziehm and Lydia Lee got crucial points for the team in singles. Lydia Lee was the first match finished in singles, putting the Pirates up 3-1. Then Ziehm got the Pirates' last win of the day, making the final score 6-3. Both Ziehm and Lee played extremely tough opponents but were able to find ways to win. 

Nina Mitrofanova had a good win at line one. She faced a difficult opponent but remained calm and got ahead in the second set quickly with high energy. Mitrofavnova's opponent was fighting back; however, she was able to close the match, putting the Pirates up 4-1. 

Coach Porter praised Taylor Despriet's clinch at line four for the Pirates. He said, "Taylor played her first singles match of the season and beat a very tough opponent with a tricky game. The level of mental and physical toughness displayed by us in this match was second to none." Following Despriet's win, the team was up 5-2. Despriet faced some discrepancies in the tiebreaker for the second set but remained unbothered. Her level headedness and confidence gave her the ability to win the match though this discomfort.

This was a major win for the Pirates'. This is not only an impressive win but also an impressive score with a team ranked ahead of the Pirates. Happy with the wins of the day, Coach Porter stated, "Lydia got us to 3-1 and Nina put us on the brink to 4-1 with sound wins at their lines. Great performances by both and Taylor brought it home from there with Alli adding another."

The Conference Tournament will be held here at Southwestern University on April 28-30, at the Pirates' home courts!