Sally Bryant made her first appearance of the season, but the Tigers dropped a 7-0 decision at Division I University of Northern Colorado on Friday.

Bryant reunited with doubles partner Erin Yamamoto at No. 3 doubles, but the duo dropped an 8-2 decision in what proved to be the most competitive match.

Britt Swenson played a strong match at No. 3 singles before falling 3-6, 6-4, 10-4.

“Britt was up 4-3 in the second set, but a couple of lucky net-cord shots effectively tipped the balance to Britt's opponent,” head coach Perry Wright said. “Sometimes you're just a little unlucky that way.  Britt fell behind 8-1 in the tiebreaker which was too big of a deficit to overcome.”

Despite coming out on the short end of a 6-2, 6-3 count at No. 6 singles, Yamamoto continued to show the improvement that will allow her to win matches when the Tigers play Division III opponents.

“Erin played her best match of the season,” Wright said. “Regardless of the loss, she made progress and perhaps developed some confidence that she can hit from the baseline just like everyone else.” 

Natalie Donnelly also played better than her 6-2, 6-0 loss would indicate.

“Natalie played a great match as she just went out there and hit out on her shots and really went for it,” Wright said. “It was clear that she was trying to construct points to win them rather than wait for a mistake from her opponent. This is a clear step in the right direction.”

Weather permitting, CC will play an exhibition match on Saturday morning against the University of Denver club team.