ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern women's tennis team opened its season with a sweep of North Central University Saturday afternoon before dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Bethel University in the nightcap.

UNW 9, NCU 0
Senior Karen Moe (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South ) picked up right where she left off after her stellar junior campaign, as the Fargo native won in straight sets to kick things off for the Eagles. Brooke Lapinski (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) also picked up a straight-sets victory, while all three doubles teams notched 8-0 wins.

BU 5, UNW 4
Karen Moe (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South ) (No. 1 singles), Nikki Edin (Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley) (No. 5 singles) and Rachel Lukkarila (Becker, Minn./Homeschool) (No. 6 singles) all secured wins, while Brooke Lapinski (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) and Rachel Lukkarila (Becker, Minn./Homeschool) teamed up at No. 3 doubles to earn an 8-3 victory.

UNW will be back in action next weekend with matches against the University of Minnesota-Duluth and St. Catherine University. More information can be found at www.unweagles.com.