ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist women's tennis had a rough start to the 2014 campaign on Saturday. The team was defeated 9-0 by Maryville and 8-1 by Principia in the first matches of the season.

Missouri Baptist (0-2) were shut-out by Maryville in the morning, but the team showed resiliency against Principia in the afternoon.

Nika Jurcic played a close singles match at No. 1. After taking the first set 6-2, she dropped the second 6-4 to force a tiebreak set. The Croatia native was defeated in that set 10-1 and gave Principia a 4-0 lead.

Kathryn Randolph dropped her first set 6-3, but rallied to take the second 6-2 to force a tiebreak of her own. Principia, however won the final set 10-5 to claim its sixth win of the day.

MBU posted its first win of the year at No. 6 singles. Nicole Savant defeated Lily Richards 7-5, 6-2 to claim her first win of the year and put MBU on the board.

The Spartans will be back in action next weekend when the team travels to Belleville, Ill., to take-on McKendree University. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Kingspoint Racquet and Tennis Club.