ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Cedar Crest College tennis team suffered their first loss of the 2021 season in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) action, as the Falcons (2-1, 2-1 CSAC) were blanked by the Cairn University Highlanders (3-1, 3-0 CSAC) on Falcon Tennis Courts Saturday afternoon.

Cedar Crest forfeited both third doubles and sixth singles, giving Cairn a 2-0 lead prior to the start of the match.

Starting with doubles, Cedar Crest had freshman Isabel Sandone (Westmont, N.J./Haddon Township) and senior Ashley Wilkins (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) compete at first singles, falling (0-8), then senior Katherine Naples (Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire North) and freshman Sam Henson (Waterbury, Conn./W.F. Keynor Technical) took three sets from the Highlanders at second doubles, but they would drop their point (3-8). Cairn would possess a 4-0 lead, heading into singles action.

With sixth singles suffering a loss by default, the first Falcon to finish was freshman Lily Spagnola (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat), who was defeated (0-6, 0-6). Cairn officially clinched the match, claiming their fifth point. Ashley Wilkins (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) dropped both of her sets to the Highlander at third singles, (2-6, 2-6), then Isabel Sandone (Westmont, N.J./Haddon Township) lost her match (3-6, 0-6) at second singles. Sam Henson (Waterbury, Conn./W.F. Keynor Technical) dropped her contest at fifth singles by a score of (2-6, 0-6), and Kate Naples rounded out the match, falling (1-6, 2-6) at fourth singles. That concluded the afternoon and the Falcons lost 0-9.

Despite the loss, Cedar Crest clinched the two-seed in the CSAC Tennis Playoffs. More information on the playoffs will be released in the near future. Be sure to tune in to cedarcrestathletics.com for all updates.