BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Webster University opened up defense of its St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Tournament title here Friday morning by posting a 5-0 win over sixth-seeded Fontbonne in a first round match at Kings Point Tennis Center.

With the win, Webster improves to 6-8 overall on the season and advances to a semifinal round match-up with No. 2 seeded Principia College later on Friday at Kings Point.

Against the Griffins, who fell to 0-12 with the loss, the third-seeded Gorloks opened the match by winning all three doubles matches as they lost a total of three games in the three matches.

Webster's No. 1 doubles team of seniors Sara Rice (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) and Madison Watts (Rogersville, Mo./Logan Rogersville) earned an 8-1 win over Chloe Loehr and Jordan Sampson. The winner improved Rice and Watts' record to 6-2 on the year.

At the No. 2 spot, sophomore Maggie Federhofer (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) and freshman Emma Ferguson (Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan) won 8-0 over FBU's tandem of Alexis Bracken and Andrea Wiele. Federhofer and Ferguson improved to 4-1 on the season.

Freshmen Navone Armstrong (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer North) and Addie Struckman (O'Fallon, Mo./Francis Howell) won 8-2 at No. 3 doubles over FBU's Emily Bay and Maris Fusiek to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Leading 3-0 in the match, Webster only needed to win two of the six singles matches to clinch the victory and they wasted little time as Federhofer picked up WU's fourth point of the match with her 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles over Sampson and then the Gorloks sealed the 5-0 shutout win when Armstrong earned back-to-back 6-0 wins over Sarah Johnson at the No. 4 spot.

Three other singles matches that had begun were in the second set when Webster sealed the win and those matches were not completed.

At No. 1 singles, Rice won the first set 6-0 and was leading 4-3 in the second set, while Ferguson won the first set, 6-1 and was leading 5-1 in the second set and sophomore Liz Gerger (St. Louis, Mo./Francis Howell Central) won the first set at No. 5 singles 6-4, but had yet to begin the second set when the match was sealed.

Freshman Imani Bennett (Gig Harbor, Wash./Gig Harbor) was slated to play No. 6 singles, but her match against Fusiek was not started.