To the delight of her own personal cheering section, Maddie Cahill-Sanidas had her serve dialed in on Saturday.

The freshman from Princeton, N.J., treated an appreciative group of visiting family members to a dominating 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles to keep the Tigers in their match against Colorado Christian University at CC's Burghart Courts. 

Colorado College ultimately dropped a 5-4 decision to the NCAA Division II Cougars, but not before Cahill-Sanidas turned in one of her best performances of the season against CCU's Amy Siemers.

"I just felt really ready," she said afterward. "I went in and my serve felt great. I think that's reallly what pushed the match. She (Siemers) couldn't return my serve. I just worked on it, and it worked."

Half a dozen relatives cheered from courtside as she posted the day's only shutout in the second set to complete her match.    

"My grandparents are here," said Cahill-Sanidas. "They live with us in New Jersey. And then my aunt and uncle and my two cousins live in Denver. They're all here, too."

The difference in Saturday's team results came in doubles, where Colorado Christian prevailed in two of three matches. Seniors Maddy Bush and Maggie Harwood won for the Tigers at the No. 2 spot, 8-2, but the visiting Cougars took the other two by identical 8-3 scores. 

"I knew it was going to be close match today," said CC head coach Anthony Weber. "Unfortunately we didn't come up big in doubles like we needed to. I thought we were a little tougher in our singles play, but we just couldn't get over that hump of being down 2-1 in doubles."

Bush and freshman Gillian Hyde also recorded straight-set singles victories at No. 4 and 5, respectively.

Colorado College opens league play in the SCAC next week with three matches in Texas against Schreiner University, Trinity University and Southwestern University. Cahill-Sanidas, for one, is looking forward to playing at lower altitude.

"That will be nice," she said. "I'm from New Jersey, so I was used to playing at sea level.Going back is always a fun time."

Meanwhile, the rookie righthander already is having the time of her life.

"I love tennis and I love everyone on the team," Cahill-Sanidas said. "We had a great spring break. We have a great team coming forward. They're just awesome people – above and beyond wonderful."

Singles
1. Kara Williams (CCU) def. Katie Patterson 6-3, 7-6(7-4)
2. Jennifer Perkins (CCU) def. Caila Criss 6-2, 6-4
3. Katy Balli def. Maggie Harwood 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
4. Maddy Bush (CC) def. Elizabeth Vertin 7-5, 6-2
5. Gillian Hyde (CC) def. Cameron Shelby 6-1, 6-1
6. Maddie Cahill-Sandidas (CC) def. Amy Siemers 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Balli/Perkins (CCU) def. Criss/Patterson 8-3
2. Bush/Harwood (CC) def. Vertin/Cassie Greco 8-2
3. Shelby/Williams (CCU) def. Cahill-Sandidas/Caroline Cary 8-3