ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist Women's Tennis took on Maryville University at the Creve Coeur Racket Club on Saturday night. The Spartans took their first defeat of the season by a score of 5-3.

MBU received a significant boost with the return of senior Krista Tyson, who had been recovering from ACL surgery. Tyson teamed with Tamara Klimek in the top doubles position and put the Spartans on the board first with a 9-7 victory. The duo fell behind 7-4 before rallying to win five consecutive games.

After Maryville took the other two matches in the doubles portion, Klimek started the singles competition with another victory. The graduate senior defeated Sarah Etter 7-6, 6-2. Thais Castiglioni followed suit from the second spot with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Rebekah Anderson.

The Saints would go on to win matches three through six to claim the team victory but MBU Head Coach Cole Stevenson was, nonetheless, encouraged about the team's prospects going forward.

"Most importantly, Krista (Tyson) is back and that is huge for us. She has worked so hard to recover from her ACL surgery and her attitude about it all has been incredible," Stevenson said. "Then to be down 7-4 with match points against her in her first doubles match back and still win? Almost gave me chills. She and Tam (Klimek) were awesome. Thais (Castiglioni) and Tam played two excellent singles matches as well." 

The Spartans (1-1) will now head to Florida for three matches over their spring break week (March 10-13).