COCHRAN, Ga.- The Ave Maria University women's tennis team concluded a busy week on Saturday, playing their third match in five days against a formidable foe - the eleventh ranked team in the nation, the Knights of Middle Georgia. The Gyrenes weren't able to mount a major challenge to the Knights on their home courts, as Middle Georgia emerged with a 4-0 victory.

Middle Georgia easily earned the doubles point, winning at the second and third flights by a combined score of 12-3. The most competitive match was the one that was left unfinished at the first flight. Ave Maria's team of Vitoria Barandas and Clara Penido played even with MGA's team of Marina Prieto Gonfaus and Lucille Jence, with the Middle Georgia pair holding a scant 5-4 lead when the doubles point was clinched by the Knights.

Barandas continued to play well at the top singles position, although her match went unfinished. Despite dropping the first set, 6-4, to Middle Georgia's Sandra Recuenco Tarin, Barandas had played an even 5-5 set in the second when the Knights put their clinching fourth point on the board. Barandas finished 4-0 overall on the week, earning two wins in singles and doubles play.

The Knights' needed three singles wins came quickly, with straight set victories at the second, third, and fourth flights. The match at the fifth flight barely got underway, with only one point (won by Middle Georgia) played, and the match at the sixth set never even took the court.

After two matches in the Peach State, the Gyrenes will head back to Florida, with no trips out of state on the schedule until the postseason. The first of these matches is scheduled for Wednesday, the Sun Conference opener against the Conquistadors of Florida National University. Ave Maria will also return to the courts the following day, when the Gyrenes face Mount St. Mary's University in a neutral site affair in Orlando.