SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Harding women's tennis, ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II Central Region, fell 8-1 to the region's sixth-ranked team, Northwest Missouri State on Friday. The teams met for the neutral-site contest at the Cooper Tennis Center.

Harding (7-6) scored its lone point at No. 2 doubles. The all-freshman team of Brittany Smyser and Emily Faulkner won 8-0 over Margaux Jaquet and Marianne Hull. Smyser and Faulkner improved to 5-5 as a doubles team and won 8-0 for the second time this season.

Two Lady Bisons pushed their opponents to three sets in singles. Harding's Piper Huey, the No. 8 singles player in the Central Region, fell 6-2 in the third set to Camila Quesada, the region's No. 6 singles player. Smyser played the closest match at No. 4, winning the first set before losing in a tiebreaker in the second set and 7-5 in the third set.

Northwest Missouri State (10-4) won for the seventh time in its last eight matches, losing only to 14th-ranked Midwestern State during that stretch.

Harding returns to Great American Conference action Tuesday against Ouachita Baptist. The match begins at the Harding tennis courts at 2 p.m.

Tennis Match Results
Northwest Mo. St. vs Harding
Apr 02, 2015 at Springfield, Mo.
(Cooper Tennis Center)

Northwest Mo. St. 8, Harding 1

 Singles competition
1. Camila Quesada (NWMSU) def. Piper Huey (HU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Lorena Rivas (NWMSU) def. Katie Huff (HU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Margaux Jaquet (NWMSU) def. Arielle Butler (HU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Stephanie Mannix (NWMSU) def. Brittany Smyser (HU) 1-6, 7-6, 7-5
5. Marianne Hull (NWMSU) def. Emily Faulkner (HU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Vilune Sestokaite (NWMSU) def. Kaylie Brown (HU) 6-0, 6-0

 Doubles competition
1. Camila Quesada/Lorena Rivas (NWMSU) def. Katie Huff/Arielle Butler (HU) 8-2
2. Brittany Smyser/Emily Faulkner (HU) def. Margaux Jaquet/Marianne Hull (NWMSU) 8-0
3. Stephanie Mannix/Aniek Kolen (NWMSU) def. Piper Huey/Sydni Sansom (HU) 8-0

Match Notes:
Northwest Mo. St. 10-4; Regional ranking #6
Harding 7-6; Regional ranking #9