SURPRISE, Calif. – No. 4 seed Dominican women's tennis fell 4-1 in a tightly contested dual match with No. 5 seed Biola on Thursday afternoon at Surprise Tennis and Racquet Club.

The Penguins (14-4) got off to a strong start in doubles holding the early lead on all three courts. Logan Koitka and Astrid Craig struck first winning 6-3 in No. 2 doubles, but Gaby Carvajal and Alexandria Mann responded for the Eagles (15-6) winning 6-4 on the third court. All eyes turned to the top court where Audrey Rafols and Sofia Acuña held a 5-3 advantage for Dominican at the conclusion as the teams gathered around the court. Kailee Mazzeo and Alessia Radu fended off the first attempt at the match to close the gap to 5-4, but Rafols delivered several brilliant shots down the line to hold served and win 6-4, handing the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the match.

Singles play featured long rallies and close sets with each match going an hour and a half as the teams tried to gain an advantage. The Eagles were a little better on the day and Mazzeo began the rally from behind winning 6-3, 6-0 in No. 2 doubles with Isabella Chavarria pulling out a 6-4, 6-0 win at the top court moments later to take the 2-1 lead. Dafne Andres Paton overcame a 4-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker in the first set with Dominican's Maria Gavrilov to win 7-6 (2) before taking a 6-1 decision in the second set to put Biola a match from the clinch. Astrid Craig was mounting her own comeback in No. 6 singles for the Penguins as she closed back within a set and fended off one match point before Mann closed it out for the 6-4, 6-4 victory. 

Deepalakshmi Vanaraja overcame an early deficit to win 7-5 in the first set and was leading 3-1 for Dominican in the second when the match was abandoned. Acuña dropped the first set 6-0 but was mounting a comeback as well for the Penguins in No. 4 singles leading 5-4 at the moment of the clinch.

Dominican will continue its play at the PacWest Championships in the consolation bracket as it faces No. 9 seed Stanislaus State at 9 a.m. MST at Surprise Tennis and Racquet Club.