OMAHA, Neb. – The College of Saint Mary tennis team opened up Great Plains Athletic Conference play Monday afternoon. The Flames lost 6-1 to Midland University.

"Midland has been our toughest opponent so far this season," CSM Coach Mike Johnson said. "Overall we played well, but with these tougher opponents we need to work on ending the points sooner and not just relying on errors from our opponents."

Midland won the doubles point with a 6-4 victory over Carolyna Truong and Miranda Swanson at No. 2 and a 6-1 win over Blake McDowall and Darece Van Auken at No. 3. CSM's Renee Acena and Iyannah Pardiwalla notched a 7-6 (7-3) victory at No. 1.

CSM's only win in singles play came from Acena at No. 1. She beat her opponent 6-2, 6-2.

Pardiwalla lost 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2; Truong fell 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3; Swanson was defeated 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4; McDowall lost 6-0, 7-6 (3) at No. 5 and Van Auken was beat 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6.

"There were lots of good things out of the match," Johnson said. "Lyna and Blake battled back in the second sets. Darece and Miranda continued to hit though the ball. Renee played a tough match and pulled out a decisive match at No. 1. Iyannah battled sickness and still came up with a solid effort at No. 2 singles."

The Flames are now 4-3 on the season and resume play March 9 vs. Kansas Wesleyan University.

"The team keeps getting stronger as do the opponents," Johnson said. "We'll look to go back this week and work on some takeaways from these last two matches."