DREW DOUGHERTY
STAFF WRITER

Franciscan University of Steubenville’s women’s tennis team swept La Roche College in its first conference match of the season with a final score of 9-0 on Saturday morning at Belleview Park.
Coming off their first win against Westminster in program history the day before, the Lady Barons started strong as senior Maria Binette and junior Madelyn Conrad took the courts with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, junior Grace Hammel and sophomore Ana Victoria Haddad Garcia also ended with an 8-1 win. Following suit, seniors Julia Razook and Taranee Karimpour won 8-1 against their own opponents, giving the Lady Barons a 3-0 lead.
After a short talk with Head Coach Scott Greve, the Lady Barons enthusiastically returned to the court for singles, all of which they won. At No. 1 singles, Conrad finished with a 6-2 win for both sets, marking her 11th-straight AMCC regular season singles match win. Binette, also on a winning streak, reached her 18th-straight AMCC win with 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 3 singles, Haddad returned to the court and scored a 7-5, 6-0 win. Razook ended with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles, and at No. 5 singles, Hammel played a quick match, winning both sets by 6-0. At No. 6 singles, freshman Zoey Stapleton successfully wrapped up her first match as a Baron, winning 6-3, 6-1.
“They played extremely well, both against Westminster and La Roche,” Greve said after the match, saying that he has “nothing but very high expectations for this team this year.” Greve said that the team has been very committed during the matches and especially at practice. The Franciscan women’s tennis team will travel to Washington, D.C., next Friday for a match against Catholic University of America, then to Pennsylvania the next day to compete against Messiah College.
The Lady Barons’ next home game will be a conference match against Pitt.-Greensburg on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m.