CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's tennis team dropped its Big South Conference opener on Thursday afternoon, falling to Winthrop at the Templeton Tennis Courts by a 7-0 margin.

PC moves to 3-5 on the year (0-1 in the Big South) and will break from Big South play for a spate of non-conference matches in Orlando that begins on Tuesday against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 11:30 a.m. Winthrop moves to 5-6 (1-0 in the Big South) and travels to No. 1 North Carolina for an 11 a.m. match on Saturday.

The Blue Hose battled hard to begin doubles play, as Patricia Alves (Campinas, Brazil) and Courtney Gardiner (Powder Springs, Ga.) led Giovanna Portioli and Alice Garcia before coming up short at the second flight, 8-6. Greer Ransom (Athens, Ga.) and Lindsay Krause (Roswell, Ga.) fell at No. 1 while Caroline deLoach (Columbia, S.C.) and Kayla Stanford (Canton, Ga.) dropped their No. 3 match, both by 8-2 scores.

In singles play, Alves battled to a 6-3, 6-4 second-flight loss to Garcia while Ransom clawed to deuce in every game at No. 1 before falling to Yasmine Alkema, 6-2, 6-2.

Krause dropped a No. 4 match to Caitlin Cridland, 6-1, 6-1, while deLoach and Lucia Leahy (Charlotte, N.C.)  fell by identical 6-1, 6-0 scores.

Haley Elliott (Greenville, S.C.) rounded out the Blue Hose with a 6-0, 6-0 defeat at the hands of Tijana Uzelac.

Singles competition
1. Yasmine Alkema (WUW) def. RANSOM, Greer (PCW) 6-2, 6-2
2. Alice Garcia (WUW) def. ALVES, Patricia (PCW) 6-3, 6-4
3. Giovanna Portioli (WUW) def. deLOACH, Caroline (PCW) 6-1, 6-0
4. Caitlin Cridland (WUW) def. KRAUSE, Lindsay (PCW) 6-1, 6-1
5. Ekin Gunaysu (WUW) def. LEAHY, Lucia (PCW) 6-1, 6-0
6. Tijana Uzelac (WUW) def. ELLIOTT, Haley (PCW) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Yasmine Alkema/Tijana Uzelac (WUW) def. RANSOM, Greer/KRAUSE, Lindsay (PCW) 8-2
2. Giovanna Portioli/Alice Garcia (WUW) def. ALVES, Patricia/GARDINER, Courtney (PCW) 8-6
3. Ekin Gunaysu/Caitlin Cridland (WUW) def. deLOACH, Caroline/STANFORD, Kayla (PCW) 8-2