HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Union College women's tennis team got its 2023 Spring Break off to an excellent start on Sunday, posting a pair of victories over Millikin University and St. Ambrose University at the Van der Meer Tennis Center.
 
Union (3-3) spread around the wins on the day, as five different players posted two wins and 12 different players were a part of at least one victory.
 
Union 6, Millikin 3
 
Union started the day with a hard-fought 6-3 victory over Millikin (10-2), snapping the Big Blue's seven-match winning streak with a 6-3 victory. Junior Gracie Nicol and first-year Chara Meidani were double winners for Union in the win.
 
Union came a tiebreaker away from sweeping the three doubles matches, but still performed well enough to take a 2-1 lead into singles play. Meidani and classmate Kennedy Alexis earned the first point of the way with an 8-2 win over Emily Markus and D Galvan at second doubles, followed by Nicol and senior Marilena Karadimou with a hard-fought 8-6 first-doubles win over Nikol Obradovic and Alexandra Ristfeldt. Junior Kate Hirnak and sophomore Gabby Gatto nearly completed the sweep at third doubles, but came up just short in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-5).
 
Nicol and Meidani put Union in a great position by earning the first two singles points as well. Nicol battled hard in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 second-singles win over Markus, and Meidani kept the momentum going by defeating Brianna Barconi at third singles, 6-4, 6-1. After a pair of Millikin (10-2) wins tightened the score, first-year Claire Langille clinched the victory in a supertiebreaker, outlasting Katarina Carlberg, 6-3, 4-6, (10-6).
 
First-year Skylar Semon then put a cap on the victory with a strong second set against Galvan, finishing off a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win.
 
Union 7, St. Ambrose 2
 
Fresh off their first win of 2023, Union rolled out an almost entirely new lineup for the second match of the day and came away with a 7-2 victory over St. Ambrose of the NAIA. Senior Hallie Katzman was the lone double winner on the afternoon for Union, while seven others were a part of one win each.
 
Union again got off to a good start, winning two of the three doubles contests to take an early lead. Langille and Semon started the match with an 8-0 sweep at third doubles, while Katzman and her sister Rayna Katzman sent Union into singles play with a lead thanks to an 8-5 second-doubles triumph.
 
Sophomore Paige Tromblee earned Union's first singles win with a pair of 6-2 sets at the fourth flight, followed by Hirnak posting a 6-4, 6-3 win at first singles to put Union a win away from a victory. First-year Sydney Alphabet clinched the win with a close 6-1, 2-6, (9-7) victory at third singles.
 
Katzman and classmate Lichuan Xiong closed out the day with wins at fifth and sixth singles, respectively. Katzman took the first set 6-1 and was leading in the second before her opponent retired, while Xiong had little trouble in a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
 
After a busy start to Spring Break, Union will take tomorrow off before returning to the courts on Tuesday with an afternoon matchup against Oberlin College.