ALLENTOWN, Pa. --- The Cedar Crest College Tennis team earned a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) victory by narrowly getting by Cairn University in a close-fought battle, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons improve to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in CSAC play.
 
Starting with doubles action, Cedar Crest's third flight, consisting of Ashley Wilkins (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) and Katherine Naples (Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire North), was defeated (3-8). Mercedes Melo (Lehighton, Pa./Palmerton Area) and Alyssa Epsaro (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) at first-doubles would claim the point, defeating the Highlanders top doubles duo, (8-5). Cairn would edge out the second doubles flight, Maya Narasimhan (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains Fanwood) and Yomari Salvador-Rivera (Reading, Pa./Reading Senior), forcing a tiebreaker that saw the Falcons suffer the (7-8) loss, falling (6-8) in the tiebreaker. The Falcons would trail 1-2 heading into singles-play.
 
Epsaro would kick-off singles action with a (6-1, 6-0) victory at second-singles, but Melo would fall at the first-flight, (3-6, 4-6) for the Highlanders to remain in the lead, 2-3. Continuing to go back-and-forth, Salvador-Rivera would take her point at third-singles, (6-2, 6-3) to tie it up again, but Narasimhan would not be able to defeat her Highlander opponent in the fourth-flight (4-6, 4-6). Wilkins would grab a point at sixth-singles to tie the match at 4-4 after getting a (7-5, 6-4) victory. The last point would be decided at the fifth-singles flight, which would have all three sets go into tiebreakers. Andrea Abdale (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast ) claimed the first set (7-6) after taking the tiebreaker (7-5), but then would drop Set 2, (6-7) after the (7-9) tiebreaker, forcing a third set. Abdale and her opposition would yet again need a tiebreaker that ultimately had Cedar Crest come out victorious, after Abdale earned the (7-6) win after taking the tiebreaker (7-1).
 
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday, April 9 when they travel to Keystone College for a CSAC contest set to begin at 3:00 PM.