ROCHESTER, Minn. – The No. 24-ranked Carleton College women's tennis team dropped a tight battle with No. 25-ranked Denison University in a neutral-site match on Saturday.
 
The Big Red (2-2) took a 1-0 lead by sweeping the three doubles matches. Peyton Oda and Maia Nowicki edged Carleton's (5-1) top duo of Amelia Asfaw and Mariam Nechiporuk by a 7-5 tally. Charlotte Johns and Caroline Lopez prevailed 6-4 over Ingrid Smith and Ryann Witter at the second slot, with Caroline Kittle and Dasha Chistyakova capturing the No. 3 doubles contest over Amanda Black and Kat Smiricinschi by a 6-1 margin.
 
Three of the singles matches necessitated a third set, with two of those results going into Denison's column.
 
The Big Red secured the first singles match to go final as Kittle defeated Witter 6-1, 7-5. Kylie Pickens got Carleton on the board with her convincing 6-1, 6-3 result at No. 4 singles. Asfaw then knotted the team score at 2-2 when he prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) atop the lineup.
 
Miriam Shteyman inched the Knights in front with her 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 triumph at No. 3 singles before Denison tied the match once again at 3-3 thanks to Lopez's 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Piper Brown at No. 6 singles.
 
That left the team result to be determined by the outcome of the No. 2 singles match. Caitlin VanWinkle started things off with a 7-6 (8-6) opening set win, before Nechiporuk leveled the contest by winning the second set 6-2. The momentum went back into VanWinkle's corner, and she captured the third set 6-3 to claim the team victory.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will close the indoor portion of its schedule by playing Minnesota State-Mankato, a NCAA Division II program on Friday, March 7 in a neutral-site match in Owatonna, Minn.