AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Women's Tennis team dropped the Sun Conference opener Friday afternoon, falling to the Coastal Georgia Mariners 4-0.

Coastal Georgia swept the opening doubles round to score the first point of the game.

In the singles round, the Gyrenes had to forfeit the bottom two singles positions, putting Coastal Georgia up 3-0. The mariners then won the top position to score the clinching point and end the match.

Melena Mourad won the most games among the Gyrenes with six across two sets. Elizabeth Pince won five games in two sets and Maria Hoffmeister won four. All three of their singles matches were ended early after Coastal Georgia won the match.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-6 overall and starts conference play 0-1.

The Gyrenes are back in action Saturday, March 21, with a morning match against the SCAD Bees. The Bees were ranked 11^th in the most recent NAIA poll and beat Florida National on Friday for their first win of the conference season. The match is set to start at 9 a.m. at the AMU Tennis Facility.