SCRANTON, PA – New faces shined for the Susquehanna University women's tennis team in Saturday's season opener at Marywood. Despite a 6-1 defeat to the Pacers, the River Hawks picked up doubles and singles wins by the newcomers. Claire Gallagher and Kaiya Reisinger defeated McKenna Seavey  and Cat English at three doubles in tiebreaking fashion 8-7 (1). At five singles Amelia Maguire took down Meilei Cianfrocco 6-2 and 6-0.

Several singles matches were nailbiters, with Alexa Wanamaker getting the closest with a three-setter at two singles against Faith Kendricks. Wanamaker won the first set 6-3, while Kendricks forced a ten-point runoff with a 6-1 win in the second set, ultimately winning the runoff 10-1. First-year Mackenzie Romig challenged Kylie Kilgore at three singles, ultimately falling by matching 6-4 scores. In the six singles spot Abigail Freeman retired her match to Avianna Santarelli.

Susquehanna Tennis fans should note that the new ITA NCAA Division III scoring system designates winning the doubles competition as one point, similar to the model that NCAA Division I and II have adopted. The River Hawks have a double feature next weekend, visiting Penn College Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m., then hosting Elizabethtown Sunday in both teams' Landmark Conference opener at 1 p.m.