PELLA —In American Rivers Conference action, the Loras College women's tennis team got the best of Central College in an 8-1 match Saturday morning.
           
Central (5-4, 3-2 conference) also earned a 5-4 win over the University of St. Mary (Kan.) later in the day.
           
The Dutch were coming off a Friday night win over Dubuque but couldn't make it two conference wins in a row.
           
"We just seemed to be a tad off the entire time," coach Ryun Ferrell said. "We could not get any kind of momentum going in our direction no matter what we did. That match was far from our best tennis."
           
The No. 3 doubles team of Emma Murphy (freshman, Liberty, Mo.) and Lauren Gano (freshman, Johnston) scored the only point against Loras, taking an 8-2 victory.
           
"They were really dominant in that match," Ferrell said. "They have been doing some really neat things."
           
In singles, three Central players pushed their matches into a tiebreaker before ultimately falling. Jenna Hernandez (senior, Slater, Ballard HS) lost 7-6, 4-6, 10-6 at No. 3. Jenna Mitsuko Mahoney (sophomore, Misawa, Japan, Robert D. Edgren HS lost 6-3, 5-7, 10-4 at No. 4 and Alli Kreider (senior, Norwalk) lost 5-7, 6-4, 12-10 at No. 6
           
"We were right bloody there to take that team down," Ferrell said. "We just needed a few things to go our way."
           
Against Saint Mary, Kreider and Abbie Den Adel (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) won 8-2 at No. 3 doubles. Central clinched the match with singles wins at Nos. 3 -6 spots from Jayden Kissack (sophomore, Clinton), Keleigh Hall (junior, Keokuk), Kalina Schubert (junior,Newell, Newell-Fonda HS) and Katelyn Freeman (sophomore, Castle Rock, Colo., Castle View HS), respectively.
           
"We had some good energy in that second match," Ferrell said. "They battled hard and weren't intimidated by anybody."
           
The Dutch travel to Buena Vista University on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match.