FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Queens tennis program was on the road again today to face off against the Monarchs of Methodist University. On the women's side the Royals showed their strength with an 8-1 victory, while the men found themselves in a tight match and ultimately were defeated 5-4.
 
Women
 
The Royals showed their ability to assert their will in the match early, and won every doubles point. Winning by the score of 8-5 were the pairings of Claire Hamilton and Jaclyn Rock, and Farina Rafiq and Paige Ernest. In one of the best matches of the day the number one team of Christina Rustscheff and Melissa Laing were able to take a tight match against a strong opponent by the score of 9-7.
 
In singles the Royals used the momentum of doubles to win four of their matches in just two sets, with Jessee Clauson forcing her opponent to a decisive third set before winning 6-3, 5-8, 10-6. Also adding points for the Royals were Rustscheff (6-1, 6-0), Laing (6-2, 6-0), Rock (6-2, 6-2), and Rafiq (6-1, 6-2).
 
Men
 
The men's side was a back-and-forth affair with the Royals being forced to fight back from a 2-1 deficit following the doubles portion of the match. Earning the point for the Royals was the pairing on Ignacio Casali and Lucas Okita by the score of 9-7.
 
The Royals were able to rebound and picked up two points from the one and two spots when Per-Erik Soler (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) and Jules Athalis (6-4, 7-6) earned victories for the visitors. But the Royals ultimately fell short when they could only pick up one more victory with Zachary Williams taking his match by the score of 6-0, 6-2.
 
The women are now 7-1 on the season, and the men are 6-2. The Royals travel to Lenoir-Rhyne on Monday to resume conference play.