FRIDLEY, Minn. -- The Northwestern College women's tennis team evened their season score at 4-4 with a convincing 9-0 victory over Bethany Lutheran College on Tuesday to start their Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) schedule.

Match Results

Northwestern started the day with nearly matching doubles wins over the Vikings. The No. 1 combo of Megan Johnson (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) and Kelly Johnson (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) gave Rebecca Kopacek and Marissa Teems an 8-2 loss, as did the Eagles' No. 2 pair featuring Amber Gallaway (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) and Aubree Else (Oskaloosa, Iowa/Pella Christian), who beat Rebecca Grove and Ellen Tommerdahl by the same score. Karin Smith (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) and Autumn Kampman (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) teamed up to deliver NWC its third doubles victory with an 8-3 defeat of Rebecca Neumann and Ashley Stahl.

Five of the Eagles singles players recorded at least one 6-0 set as NWC cruised through most of the final six matches. In the No. 1 singles match, Megan Johnson (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing) had little trouble with Kopacek (6-0, 6-2) while Kelly Johnson (Annandale, Minn./Annandale) went 6-0, 6-1 on Teems at the No. 2 singles spot. Else fended off a 6-4 first set win to sweep Tommerdahl 6-0 in the No. 4 singles second set, while Gallaway and Smith yielded just two and one games in the Nos. 5 and 6 matches. Rachel Bostrom (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) was also victorious, posting a 6-4, 6-4 win against Rebecca Grove at No. 3.

Northwestern will take it's 1-0 UMAC record into another conference match on Thursday against the College of St. Scholastica. That 12 p.m. contest at Lifetime Fitness in Fridley will feature the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in last year's final conference standings and the 2013 UMAC Coaches Poll.