The Tomcat women's tennis program notched its first victory of the young season by beating Mt Aloysius 5-4 at the first annual Thiel College Invitational. They then went on to a second-place finish as they fell in the championship round to Bethany College 7-2 in the final.

In the game against Mount Aloysius, the Mounties took two out of three from the Tomcats in doubles play, but Thiel was able to rally, taking four of the six singles matches to get the program's first victory since 2001.

“It was great to get off on the right foot,” said second-year head coach Tim Dunford.

“After the rough season we had last year it was nice to pull out this victory and get some confidence going for the rest of the season.”

The turning point for the Tomcats was at number four singles where freshman Bri Tiedeman won her match 10-7. After being tied 7-7, the freshman from Jarrettsville, Maryland rattled off three straight set victories to take the game.

Game two of the day was the championship match in the Thiel Invitational against the Bison of Bethany College. The Tomcats dropped the game 7-2.

It was the upperclassmen that stepped up in the game against the Bison as senior Amy Nacey (Delmont, Pa./Greensburg-Salem) won both of her games in the match. The first was at number three doubles where she and her partner, junior Katey Williams (Shelocta, Pa./Elderton), defeated Tara Harris and Siobhan McDonagh 8-6. The second win for Nacey came at number six singles where she defeated Jordan Jones 8-3. However, those would be the only two points that the Tomcats would get and the fell 7-2.

Thiel will open up conference play on Wednesday September 7 at home when they will take on the Bearcats of Saint Vincent College. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m.