DENVER, Col. - The Montana State University Billings Women's tennis team completed their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season this past weekend in Denver Colorado.  The Lady Yellowjackets went 0-3 on the road trip to finish 2-3 in RMAC play.
 
MSUB lost two hard fought matches on day one.  They lost 4-5 against Western New Mexico University and 4-5 agaisnt Colorado Christian University.  On day two, the Yellowjackets fell to Colorado Mesa University 0-9.
 
MSUB 4 WNMU 5
 
MSUB came out of opening doubles play down 1-2 as the number two team of Mary Conwell and Emily Paffhausen won their match 8-3.  The number one team of Morgan Opp and Madeline Loomis fell 5-8 and the number three team of Hannah Shephard and Marissa O'Connell lost 2-8. 
 
In singles play, Opp fell at number one 2-6, 1-6.  Playing number two Loomis took the victory in odd fashion.  She lost the first set 6-7 (10-7 in a tie breaker) but then won the match after the WNMU player was defaulted citing a code of conduct to give MSUB the point and make the overall team score 2-3 in favor of WNMU.
 
The MSUB number three player, Shephard, fell in a tough fought first set 6-7 (8-6 in the tie break) then dropped the second set 1-6.  O'Connell fell at the number six spot 2-6, 1-6.
 
The Yellowjackets came roaring back as both Conwell and Paffhausen secured victories.  Conwell won her eighth match of the year in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 playing number four while Paffhausen playing number five won her seventh match of the year 6-3, 6-1 but proved too little too late as WNMU went on to the 5-4 win. 

"The Ladies lost a close match to WNMU," head coach Lew Kosich said.  "Mary Conwell continued her singles streak with a hard fought win at number four singles and teamed up with Emily Paffhausen to win at number two doubles.  We had two singles tie breaks that we could just not close on and could have helped the match go our way.  We will likely see Western again and be ready to turn the tables."      

Singles Competition

1. Ganna Tiurina (WNMU) def. Morgan Opp (MSU-B) 6-1, 6-2
2. Madeline Loomis (MSU-B) def. Marie Monier (WNMU), by default
3. Claudia Osuna (WNMU) def. Hannah Shephard (MSU-B) 7-6, 6-1
4. Mary Conwell (MSU-B) def. Diamond Morrill (WNMU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Emily Paffhausen (MSU-B) def. Dena Irvin (WNMU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Marissa Aguirre (WNMU) def. Marissa O'Connell (MSU-B) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles Competition
 
1. Ganna Tiurina/Marie Monier (WNMU) def. Morgan Opp/Madeline Loomis (MSU-B) 8-5
2. Emily Paffhausen/Mary Conwell (MSU-B) def. Diamond Morrill/Dena Irvin (WNMU) 8-3
3. Claudia Osuna/Marissa Aguirre (WNMU) def. Hannah Shephard/Marissa O'Connell (MSU-B) 8-3


MSUB 4 CCU 5  
Conwell and Paffhausen continued to lead MSUB as they both went undefeated on the day.  Playing as a team at number two doubles, they cruised to a 8-2 win and secured their six doubles win of the year.  Opp and Loomis also won at number one doubles 8-5, but Shephard and O'Connell fell at number three 1-8.

 
Conwell and Paffhausen were the lone players to record singles victories agaisnt CCU.  Conwell won her tenth match of the year 7-6 (7-4 in the tie breaker), 6-2 playing number four singles while Paffhausen recorded her ninth victory 6-3, 6-3 while playing number five.
 
Opp fell while playing number one singles 1-6, 1-6; Loomis lost 2-6, 0-6 and Shephard was defeated 4-6, 3-6 as CCU would escape with the 5-4 win.
 
"It was a tough day for the ladies,"  Kosich said.  We lost two hard-fought 5-4 tiebreakers.  We expected two wins and got two tough losses but we will be back to compete tomorrow."

 Singles Competition
 
1. Kara Williams (CCUWT) def. Morgan Opp (MSUB) 6-1, 6-1
2. Jennifer Perkins (CCUWT) def. Madeline Loomis (MSUB) 6-2, 6-0
3. Katy Balli (CCUWT) def. Hannah Shepard (MSUB) 6-4, 6-3
4. Mary Conwell (MSUB) def. Elizabeth Vertin (CCUWT) 7-6, 6-1
5. Emily Puffhausen (MSUB) def. Cameron Shelby (CCUWT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Raeghan Rudkin (CCUWT) def. Marissa O'Connell (MSUB) 6-3, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
 
1. Morgan Opp/Madeline Loomis (MSUB) def. Jennifer Perkins/Katy Balli (CCUWT) 8-5
2. Mary Conwell/Emily Puffhausen (MSUB) def. Elizabeth Vertin/Cassie Greco (CCUWT) 8-2
3. Kara Williams/Cameron Shelby (CCUWT) def. Hannah Shepard/Marissa O'Connell (MSUB) 8-1


 MSUB 0 CMU 9
 
In their final regular season match, MSUB played the top team in the GNAC in Colorado Mesa University and fell 0-9.  Opp and Loomis fell 5-8, Conwell and Paffhausen lost 3-8 and Shephard and O'Connell also fell 3-8. 
 
Although MSUB was swept, most of the matches were highly competitive.  Opp lost 2-6, 4-6 at number one;  Loomis fell in three sets 5-7, 6-4 (10-5 in the third set tie breaker); Shephard lost 4-6, 2-6 at number three; Conwell lost 6-7 (7-5), 2-6; Paffhausen and O'Connell both lost 0-6, 0-6.   
 
"We finished the regular season against the top rated team in our conference.  The scores are not a good representation of how we competed and is most matches the result was a few points away from going our way.  We have played roughly half of the matches that our conference opponents have so this provided us the opportunity to improve and gain experience.  Watch out for us in the RMAC Championships this coming weekend."      

MSUB next travels to Grand Junction Colorado for the RMAC championship tournament scheduled to be played on April 18^th and 19^th.