DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The Embry-Riddle women's tennis team (1-4) battled hard for a little over three hours, but were unable to come away with a victory at the Crotty Tennis Complex on Tuesday, falling to crosstown foe Bethune Cookman (2-5), 5-4.
 
The Eagles gained an early advantage on Tuesday as the Wildcats only had five available players, giving the Eagles default wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles. Bethune Cookman quickly made up the deficit, however, as Matea Roki and Alejandra Vidal bested Georgina Wood and Maria Turrillo 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and Mina Matsuba and Deborah Echeverria held off Maud Mrad and Alexis Marshall 9-7 at No. 1 doubles to make the team score 2-2 going into singles.
 
Playing at No. 4 singles, Marshall was the first to notch a singles point for ERAU. Down 5-2 in the first set, the freshman won six games in a row to take the set 7-5, and rolled to a 6-1 win in the second to put the Eagles up 3-2.
 
While Roki evened the score with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Turrillo on court three, Kathryn Bock easily won her first set against Phatsimo Ruele 6-1. Ruele moved out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but Bock rebounded to tie the set score at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Ruele led 5-2 early and had set point, but once again, Bock fought back and scored the Eagles' fourth point with a 9-7 win in the tiebreaker.
 
The Wildcats answered again courtesy of Echeverria's 6-4, 7-5 win over Wood at the second spot, leaving it up to Mrad and Matsuba to decide the outcome at the top spot.
 
Mrad jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage in the first set, but Matsuba won the next four games to go up 5-4. Mrad broke then held serve to take the first set 7-5, but the second set went to Matsuba, 6-4 and the BCU senior took that momentum into the final frame, winning 6-2 to score the clincher.
 
The Eagles are back on the road on Thursday when they travel to Boca Raton to take on third-ranked Lynn. Match time is slated for 3 p.m.