PELLA — It was a tale of two matches for the Central College women's tennis team as they blew out Northwestern College 9-0 in the opener before being taken to the wire by Morningside College in a 5-4 victory on Saturday.

The Dutch are now 11-8 for the season and 3-3 in the spring portion of the schedule, including a 5-4 loss to Cornell College on the road Friday night.

"By the time we played Morningside, we were running on fumes," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "I pushed them hard because for us to win a tournament title this spring, this is the  kind of schedule we need to do. We had a real young lineup who got tough and found a way to get it done."

Despite four of the six singles matches going to a third set, Central was able to complete the clean sweep against Northwestern. They had to win four singles matches after losing in two of three doubles matches against Morningside.

Kirsten Jordan (senior, Clear Lake) and Maddie Hartley (freshman, Clarinda) swept both of their doubles matches by winning 8-4 against Northwestern and 8-6 versus Morningside.

'They have a neat little chemistry," Ferrell said. "They feed off of each other and it works well."
           
Jordan was unblemished on the day after triumphing in both No. 2 singles contests. She needed a third set to beat both of her opponents after losing 6-1 in the first set both times.
           
"She's hardly ever played that high in her career," Ferrell said. "She was so tough today. She kept plugging away, I was so proud of her."
           
Hartley, Bronwyn Metcalf (freshman, Pella) and Katie Larson (freshman, Fort Madison) also were 2-0 in singles.

The Dutch are off for two weeks before traveling to Rock Island, Illinois to play Augustana College (Ill.) on Friday, April 5 at 4 p.m.

"They are a really good team," Ferrell said. "It'll be good to get a little rest before we head over there to take them on."