OWATONNA, Minn. – The Bethel University women's tennis team saw their first action of 2016 on Saturday as they swept Northwestern College (Iowa) and Bethany Lutheran College without giving up a single point.
 
"We faced some tough competition today but our girls played extremely well and I was impressed with the way they came out to start the year," said head coach Drew Fernelius.
 
In the first match of the day, the Royals took a 9-0 victory over a Northwestern team that made it to the NAIA national tournament just a season ago.  Bethel grinded out a 9-8 (7-2) win in the No. 1 doubles match to start play on Saturday before cruising through the remaining two doubles contests, surrendering just one game overall.  With a 3-0 lead heading into singles play, sophomore Mattie Kidder saved five match points before eventually winning the No. 1 singles match in a third set tiebreaker.  The Royals would go on to win the remaining five singles contests, losing a total of just eight games in those matches.
 
Bethel followed their opening 9-0 defeat of Northwestern with an identical 9-0 triumph over Bethany Lutheran.  Coach Fernelius utilized all 11 players in the second match and the Royals quickly dismantled their opponent with straight-set victories in all six of the singles matches, losing just four games in the process. 
 
"It was great to see everyone contributing to our success today, I'm really proud of all the girls for putting together a convincing performance," said Fernelius.
 
After a weekend sweep to begin the 2016 campaign, the Royals will set their sights on their first conference match against Concordia at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis this Saturday.