TRUMBULL, Conn. - A thrilling end-to-end match at the Tennis Club of Trumbull (TCT) Saturday afternoon saw the Fairfield University women's tennis team claim a 4-3 victory over Drexel. With the victory the Stags improve to 2-1 in matches hosted at the TCT, with one match remaining before home play moves outdoors to the WAC Tennis Courts.

"What a fantastic match!" Head Coach Jeff Bricker said following the match. "We came out with a ton of energy in doubles and carried it through into singles play. That was a big win for the program and should give everyone a huge boost of confidence. Paulina and Lize-Alet were both amazing tonight and showed their experience in helping us pull out the win."

The Stags opened the day with a sweep of the top two doubles flights, beginning in the No. 2 contest with Lize-Alet Morkel and Francesca Karman combining for a convincing 6-1 victory that combined with a default win in the third duel due to Drexel having just five available players for the match would secure the doubles point. Despite having the point in hand, Fairfield would secure a win in the top flight in a tightly contested match 7-5, as Paulina Bakaite and Sarah Liu combined for the win to give the Stags momentum as played turned to the singles rounds.

Scarlett Hutchinson would earn the default win at No. 6 singles, meaning Fairfield would enter solo play up 2-1, before back-to-back points for the Dragons brought the visitors level at two going into the latter stages of the night. Bakaite then leveled the score with a top flight victory after nabbing a 7-3 tiebreak in her opening round, before taking the match in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, to put the Stags on the verge of clinching the win as a team.

Both of the remaining duels would enter a decisive third set, with Drexel battling back to draw back to at 3-3, leaving the match to be decided in the No. 3 flight between Morkel and the Dragons' Aida Garcia-Mendez. Drexel would take the opening set in a 7-6 tiebreak before Morkel bounced back with consecutive 6-2 wins in the second and third sets to secure the the victory for the Stags.

Fairfield women's tennis is back in action for a late morning match next Sunday at Bryant. First serve against the Bulldogs from Smithfield, R.I. is scheduled for 11:45 a.m.