Much like most of the fall sports teams at Benedictine University, the Tennis team also played host Saturday. At the nearby Lisle Park District, the Eagles split a pair of matches against Northern Athletics Conference foes: defeating Milwaukee School of Engineering 9-0 and falling to Concordia-Wisconsin 9-0.
 
In the morning, the Eagles handled MSOE (1-5) in an impressive manner, completing a sweep in both the singles and doubles portions of the match. Particularly strong showings were put forth by a pair of freshman: Antoinette Goyao and Isabella LeBlanc. Goyao won 6-0, 6-0 from the fourth singles slot, while LeBlanc won 6-0, 6-1 from the fifth singles slot. BenU also saw a great effort from Goyao and Kam Haifleigh in the second doubles match, as they defeated their opponent 8-0.  
 
Benedictine would struggle in the afternoon match against of the NAC's top teams in Concordia- Wisconsin. The Falcons (7-1) were able to take the Eagles out of their comfort zone and sweep them in both the singles and doubles matches.
 
However, there were some bright spots to the afternoon match. Second singles player Bhavana Movva fought hard in her match (losing 6-3, 6-3), and Haifleigh took her opponent to three sets in the third singles match. The doubles team of Goyao and Haifleigh also performed well just like in the morning, staying competitive and dropping their match 8-5.
 
While Head Coach Jonathan Teune is pleased with some of the things he saw on Saturday, he also knows his team can do better.
 
"I was proud of how the girls took care of business against MSOE in the morning.  In the afternoon, Concordia dispatched us way too easily,” Teune said. “They are currently one of the better teams in the NAC, but our girls are closer than the score today indicated.  I believe our ability level is there. We just need to tighten some things up, especially in doubles, and have a bit more of a killer attitude and fight when we're in tough matches."
 
With Saturday's split, BenU now sits at 6-4 on the season with a 5-3 NAC record. The team is back in action on Wednesday when they travel to face rival Aurora at 3 p.m. in a match between two of the NAC's better teams.