Larner Victorious in NCAA Singles Championship Opener

5/23/2018 8:45:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Nick Brilowski

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Northwestern senior Erin Larner was victorious in her NCAA Singles Championship debut Wednesday morning, defeating Kristina Mathis of Dartmouth, 6-2, 6-4.

With the win, Larner advances to Thursday's second round where she'll face the tournament's No. 5 seed, Gabriela Knutson of Syracuse who was a 6-3, 7-5 winner in her opening round match Thursday.

Larner cruised through her opening set on Wednesday as she took advantage of an early break to surge in front. Serving for the first set at 5-1, Larner had her serve broken by Mathis but she broke right back to take the opening frame.

Larner was broken again and then Mathis held as the Ivy League's automatic qualifier took an early 2-0 lead. Neither competitor had much success holding serve early in the set, but Larner managed to get the break back and then held to go up 4-3 before eventually closing things out by breaking Mathis again in the final game to take the match.

Larner will be working double duty Thursday as she'll also pair with Maddie Lipp in the NCAA Doubles Championship in their first-round match.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!