ORLANDO, Fla. - The Saginaw Valley State University women's tennis team dropped a pair of matches to open the Spring portion of its schedule on Tuesday (3/8).  The Cardinals fell to Upper Iowa by a score of 6-3 before dropping a 5-4 decision to Tampa.

Against Upper Iowa, Charlotte Wong (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) picked up a pair of victories, winning at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-1 after teaming-up with Katie Piorkowski (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.  Yunjiao Shangguan (Chengdu, China/Shiyang HS) was also victorious, claiming a 4-7, 7-5, 10-8 decision at No. 1 singles.

In the match against Tampa, Wong and Piorkowski won at No. 3 doubles again with another 8-3 decision.  Shangguan and Andrea Calhoun (Midland, Mich./Dow HS) picked-up their first doulbes victory for the trip by an 8-3 count at No. 1 doubles.  Shangguan and Calhoun won their singles matches as well, claiming 7-5, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-2 victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.

"We played hard and competed well", stated SVSU Head Coach Jenn Boehm, who saw her first action at the head of the Cardinal tennis program.  "While we didn't win either match, we won some battles and gained valuable experience for a young team.  We look for better results tomorrow."

SVSU faces-off against Rockhurst at 11 a.m. and Webber International at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday (3/9) in the second day of competition in Orlando, Fla.