HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Marietta College men's tennis team improved to 3-0 on the season defeating Defiance College by the score of 7-2 Monday (March 12) morning. The Pioneer women opened the 2012 season with a 9-0 loss to NCAA Division II University of Illinois-Springfield.

Eric Sturgis (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) and Taimur Ahmed (Islamabad, Pakistan/Froebels International) started off with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles over Defiance's Cord Speelman and Justin Walker to take a 1-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets No. 1 doubles team of Trevor Ault and Ryan Nelson evened the match with an 8-3 victory over Teddy Daub (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) and Dave Koscielny (Belleville, Mich./Plymouth Christian).

Marietta's Andy Knauff (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area) and Karl Grant (Elmhurst, Ill./York) put the Pioneers back on top with an 8-4 decision against Austin Gray and Craig Bills at No. 2.

Sturgis came from 5-2 down in the first set at No. 1 singles to defeat Ault 7-6 (4) and 6-2 putting the Pioneers ahead 3-1. Daub made quick work of Gray at No. 2 with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win.

Defiance cut the lead to 4-2 when Nelson downed Koscielny at No. 4 by the score of 6-3, 7-5. Ahmed clinched the match for the Pioneers with a marathon third set win over Walker at No. 6. Ahmed won the first set 6-3, lost the second 4-6 and bounced back to win the third 7-5.

Grant easily defeated Bills at No. 5, 6-3 and 6-1. Knauff finished things off for the Pioneers at No. 3 winning 7-6 (7), 6-1 over Speelman.

On the women's side, Springfield swept the doubles to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Druvinka Moraes and Jane Brown defeated Lauren Bush (Kent/Theodore Roosevelt) and Cate Gisser (Westlake/Magnificat) 8-3 at No. 1. The No. 2 team of Megan Zumbahlen and Brooke Tweedy posted an 8-0 win over Caitlin Cornell (South Park, Pa./South Park) and Jamie Taylor (Allen, Md./Parkside). Cassidy Burkhardt and Janasha Prabhu were 8-2 winners against Natalie Turner (Marysville/Marysville) and Jessica Penny (Bellefontaine/Bellefontaine) at No. 3.

The Prairie Stars posted all straight-set wins in the singles matches. Moraes was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 1 over Cornell. Brown downed Gisser at No. 2 by the scores of 6-1, 6-1. At No. 3, Zumbahlen defeated Bush 6-0 and 6-1.

Tweedy defeated Turner 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4. Burkhardt posted a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5 against Marietta's Taylor. Finally, Prabhu downed Penny at No. 6 by the scores of 6-2 and 6-4.

The men's team returns to action tomorrow (March 13) at 12:30 p.m. against Roosevelt University. The women will play Roosevelt at 3:45 p.m.