ORLANDO, Fla. (March 16, 2008) – Senior Dana Bacalla improved to 19-1 this season with a 6-3, 6-1 win over sophomore Gina Klein (Darien, Ill.) at first singles as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's tennis team opened its spring campaign with an 8-1 loss to Carthage College on Sunday in Orlando, Fla. The Ducks are now 13-4 overall. Meanwhile, the Lady Reds improved to 7-6 on the year.

At first doubles, Bacalla and freshman Allyson Kingman suffered an 8-1 loss to junior Taylor Gustafson (Riverwoods, Ill.) and Klein. Juniors Whitney Bender and Rebecca Ryba dropped an 8-4 match to sophomore Beth Kaufman (Barrington, Ill.) and freshman Katie Hornick (Appleton, Wis.) at No. 2 doubles. In the third-doubles position, sophomore Natalie Schloeder and freshman Kendra Appleheimer lost to junior Julie Rendino (McHenry, Ill.) and sophomore Ashley Morgan (Afton, Minn.) by the score of 8-1.

Bacalla led off singles play with her straight-sets win in the first flight. Bender lost 6-0, 6-0 to Kaufman at No. 2 singles. Gustafson defeated Kingman 6-3, 7-5 at third singles. Appleheimer played a very solid second set before falling to Hornick by the score of 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4 singles. Morgan was a straight-sets winner (6-4, 6-0) versus Ryba at fifth singles. In the sixth-singles position, Schloeder fell to freshman Kristina Roglin (Downers Grove, Ill.) 6-3, 6-0.

Stevens is slated to play two more matches while in Florida. On Tuesday, the Ducks will take on the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse at 8 a.m. Stevens will play SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday at noon.