CREVE COEUR - On an early Friday morning here, Webster University women's tennis met Missouri Baptist in a match that began at 6:30 a.m. at the Creve Coeur Racquet Club and the Gorloks fell 9-0 to the Spartans.

Friday's match was the first for the Gorloks in a little over a week as Webster hadn't played since earning a 6-3 win last Thursday at Westminster (Mo.) College. 

With the setback, Webster fell to 6-4 overall and snapped its three match win streak, while Missouri Baptist improved to 6-2 on the year. 

"Missouri Baptist was a great match for us today to prepare for postseason play," Webster head women's tennis coach Martha Davis-Goldstein said.

In doubles on Friday, the Gorloks struggled to find momentum. They won a few games over the three matches but ultimately lost all three of the matches to trail 3-0 heading into singles play. 

Among the setbacks in doubles was a loss at the No. 1 spot by Webster's No. 1 tandem of senior Monica Behrle (Atlanta, Ga./East Paulding) and junior Madison Watts (Rogersville, Mo./Logan Rogersville). Behrle and Watts fell 8-2 to MBU's No. 1 tandem of Tamara Klimek and Krista Tyson. It was the first doubles loss this spring for Behrle and Watts as they entered the match having won eight straight matches prior to Friday's setback.

"Sometimes you just get beat and that is what happened to us today," Watts said.
 

Despite being down, Webster battled hard in singles play as they fought in every game and won several despite not coming away with a victory in singles.
 
Senior Jesse Steffens-Willis (St. Louis, Mo./Rockwood Summit) had a fantastic match at the No. 4 spot as she won the first set 7-5 in a tiebreak against Rafaela Davide. Davide won the second set, 6-2 to set up a third set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Steffens-Willis came close to a win, but was edged out 10-6.  

"This gave us good practice for the remainder of our conference schedule," Behrle said after the match. "We're hoping to keep playing strong tennis and look forward to the rest of the season."

Webster will look to start a new win streak on Saturday, April 7 as they travel to Godfrey, Ill., for a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match against Blackburn College at 12 p.m. on the campus of Lewis & Clark Community College.