LYNDON CENTER, Vt. – In Saturday afternoon's season opener, the Lyndon women's tennis team fell 9-0 to the visiting Plattsburgh State Cardinals (1-0). 

In the doubles matches, Olivia Bernard (Westmore, Vt.) and Nichole Jones (Lisbon Falls, Me.) put in a solid effort but Plattsburgh State's Kaitlyn Healy and Kelci Henn came away with an 8-2 victory.  Alexandria Maynard (East Hampton, Conn.) and Carina Alden (New Marlborough, Mass.) also came up short to Jacqueline Ciriello and Shari Forman, losing 8-2.  The final doubles match saw Stephanie Burke (Claremont, N.H.) and Alexa Richard (Haverhill, Mass.) fall to Sarah Drexinger and Kristen Napper 8-1.

In the singles matches, Healy took a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Maynard while Jones fell to Henn 6-1, 6-0.  Olivia Bernard had a strong first set but was bested by Drexinger 6-2, 6-0.  In the final three matches, Alden fell to Ciriello (6-0, 6-1), Richard lost to Forman (6-1, 6-1), and freshman Greta Larson's (Williamsville, Vt.) debut ended in a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Margaret Mitchell.

Despite the tough loss, Coach Laura Laramee had a positive outlook, saying, "The ladies played hard today.  The score may not show how well they played today against a tough opponent, but those in attendance saw a lot of great volleys in all the matches."

Laramee wasn't too worried about the loss to a non-conference opponent.  "We played a great team today and the girls learned a lot from the matches" she stated.  "These matches prepare us well for our conference opponents."

The Hornets (0-1) travel to Castleton University next Saturday for a 1:00 PM start time.