SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's tennis put up a strong fight in a 7-0 loss to UC Riverside, its first NCAA Division I opponent of the year, Friday afternoon at Castellucci Family Tennis Center. 

Lindsey Gelinas and Lauren Wolfe started the Highlanders (6-10) day with a 6-0 victory in No. 3 doubles, while Tia Elpusan and Sara Khattab added a 6-1 victory on the top court to seal the doubles point. Mahli Silpachai and Hanh Pham looked to follow suit in No. 2 doubles, building a 4-0 lead early over the Penguins' (3-14) Alex Wartenberg and Michelle Li. Wartenberg and Li had other plans, winning five of the next six games to tie the set 5-5. Each team held serve in the final two games to set up a tiebreaker for the match. After dropping the first point, Wartenberg and Li caught fire on their way to a 7-2 win in to take the match for Dominican.

Gelinas shifted the momentum back to the Highlanders with a 6-0, 6-1 victory in singles with Tracy Van adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory to move a match from the team victory. Khattab grabbed the clinch point for UCR with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in No. 4 singles. Wartenberg and Kaitlyn Nguyen were bright spots in singles play for the Penguins. Nguyen overcame a slow start in a 6-2 first set loss to build a 4-3 lead in the second set, but Silpachai won the final three games to take the second court. Wartenberg frustrated her opponent Natalie Shamma in No. 3 singles as the two traded long rallies, but Shamma came out on top 6-4, 6-3 to complete the sweep for the Highlanders.

Dominican will return to the court Saturday as it hosts UC Santa Cruz at noon PDT at Castellucci Family Tennis Center.