The Lee University women's tennis team opened the 2021 season with a 4-3 win over Tennessee Wesleyan University Thursday afternoon at the DeVos Tennis Center.

The Lady Flames (1-0) grabbed the doubles point after sweeping the three matches. Micaela Belen Maiz and Larissa Wieser shut out Raquel Canadas and Edisa Hot, 6-0, at No. 2 doubles. Lisa Kirr and Matina Ujdur were 6-3 winners against Tara Gilich and Natacha Mesa. Carley Sickinger and Sierra Donaldson completed the sweep with a 7-6 win over Maria Way and Honoka Tsuji at No. 3 doubles.

TWU (1-1) ended the Lee streak with Gilich's 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles against Belen Maiz. Sickinger posted matching 6-4 scores to win in straight sets over Tsuji and Kirr pushed the Lee advantage to 3-1, following a 6-4, 6-4 win against Mesa.

Canadas beat Moreno 6-2 and 6-3 to pull the Bulldogs within one point. Ujdur split her first two sets with Hot, winning the opening set 6-2 and dropping the second set 6-1. She completed the three-set win and clinched the Lee win with a 6-3 third-set score.

Way and Hayden Smith split their first two sets at No. 6 singles with Way winning 7-5 and Smith forcing a third set with a 6-3 margin. Way posted a 10-1 score in the tie-breaker super set.

"Today was a great way for both teams to start the season with a close match against good competition," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "We battled hard and competed well the entire day which allowed them to come away with the win. Everyone played a role in winning today and we are looking forward to continuing momentum into next week."

The Lady Flames are scheduled to travel to Tusculum University for another non-conference match on February 12. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.