HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s tennis opened its fall season with an energetic performance, sweeping Marist in six matches in a Friday afternoon matchup, in match one of the Quinnipiac Hidden Duels. 

The game was an electrifying match led by sophomore Willow Renton. 

Renton showed poise and determination, getting her partner, junior Caitlin Flower, involved heavily in their fast matchup of doubles against Marist’s duo, sophomore Viktoria Lorentzon and freshman Tessa Wachtel 

The Marist duo, who got off to a great start against Quinnipiac, couldn’t seem to get the job done in the starting doubles matchup, ultimately getting taken out by six, with nothing being scored by Lorentzon and Wachtel.

Yet, Renton and the Bobcats were not done winning, as one of the Bobcats’ best on the team was carrying that cutting-edge fire and energy into her next match of singles against Lorentzon.

The match was not easy for Renton against the Swedish native. 

A competitive back-and-forth matchup would show and bring out the fatigue in Renton, showing signs of sluggishness and exhaustion. 

Though Renton never gave up, and despite giving a point to the opponent in the first set, she refused to let go, scoring and holding up her strength in the second set of the match. 

Lorentzon would continue to apply pressure, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Willow’s determined composure and persistence, allowing her to achieve a straight-sets victory over Marist’s Lorentzon. 

“Normally, closing out isn’t a weakness for us,” junior Jane Wright said.

Head coach Paula Miller is enthusiastic about her team and the future for this season. 

“Nothing needs to change,” Miller said. “It’s the fall-it, not about winning or losing, it’s about getting ready for the spring.” 

Miller stressed that new players will and have started coming back stronger and that the team is in a growing period as some of the newer members are injured or battling off-court issues. 

Quinnipiac will stay in Hamden to take on UConn in the second day of the Hidden Duels on Sept. 7. The first match is set to begin at 9 a.m.