CONWAY -- The John Brown University women's tennis team picked up a pair of wins Feb. 9-10, sweeping past Ozarks (Ark.) 9-0 before taking down Hendrix (Ark.) by a 5-2 score at the Hatcher Tennis Center.
The wins improve the Golden Eagles to 4-0.
Against Ozarks (0-3), John Brown jumped out to a fast start by taking care of all three doubles flights. The top pairing of senior Lin Xin Tan and Abigail Woodring made quick work of Jessica Gayle and Kelsey Smith, 6-3. Shortly after, juniors Ellie Swan and Erin Kuykendall used a similar 6-2 win over Annie Nelligan and Erika Jones at court two to double the lead.
Seniors Caroline Hillock and Kyla Isaac completed the trifecta at the third flight, 7-5, over Ozarks' Gabriella Davis and Journey Pope.
JBU continued to cruise in singles play, highlighted by a shutout win from Hillock at the four spot over Kelsey Smith, 6-0, 6-0. After dropping the first set 6-2, Isaac battled back in the last action to finish on the day, using a 6-3 win in the second set to setup a 10-8 third set tiebreak over Pope to complete the sweep.
While John Brown faced a tougher task with the host Warriors (1-1), the Golden Eagles handed Hendrix its first loss of the season, again using strong doubles play.
Tan and Woodring outlasted Avery Stephens and Eleanor Burks at the top flight, 8-6, as did Hillock and Isaac versus Kate Adcox and Ayden Huckelbury at the third slot, handing JBU a 2-1 advantage before singles action.
Both duos of Tan and Woodring, and Hillock and Isaac improved to 3-0 this season.
The visitors quickly parlayed the early lead into a 4-1 advantage after Tan dismantled Burks on court one, 6-3, 6-1, and Kuykendall overcame a second-set tiebreak loss to defeat Stephens 10-8 in the third frame.
Hendrix narrowed the score to two, 4-2, before Hillock's 10-7 third-set win clinched the match for John Brown. Hendrix's Josie Leffingwell evened the match at one apiece in the second set after Hillock used a 6-3 win in the first for the early advantage.
JBU scored wins in two of three third-set tiebreaks.
The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday morning when John Brown takes on Saint Mary (Kan.) at the Genesis Health Clubs – Clayview in Kansas City at 8:30 a.m.