LEXINGTON, Ky. - Transylvania women's tennis narrowly fell to Franklin College 4-5 on Sunday in their final match before the HCAC Championship. 

The Pioneer's had a strong outing, despite missing their key No. 3-seeded singles and No.20-seeded doubles player, senior Victoria Haugli, due to injury. The team made strides in individual matches throughout the day, especially in the No. 2 and No. 4 spots.

Transylvania and Franklin split wins in the six single's positions. No. 1 Claire Mielcarek dropped the first match of the season, and of her career, narrowly by a 5-7, 5-7 margin to Franklin's Melissa Sanders. Freshman Laila El Dessouki continued her domination of the second seed by blanking her opponent, Bethany Harris, 6-0, 6-0.

Sophia Head stepped in for the injured Haugli in the No. 3 spot, but had trouble with Franklin's Emily Roberts, falling 1-6,-1-6. Sophomore Megan Dixon and junior Savanna Barnett stepped in to split the singles decisions by overcoming opponents in the No. 4 and No. 5 spot, respectively. Dixon continued her strong year by overwhelming her opponent, 6-2, 6-2. A tough Grizzly, Shawnee Bayes, caused trouble for No. 5 Barnett, but she came out unscathed after winning a tie break in set one (7-6) and bouncing back in set three, 7-5.

The deciding match was found in doubles play, where sophomore Claire Mielcarek and El Dessouki led the Pioneers, dominating their Franklin opponents, 8-1. However, it was the remaining doubles spots that dropped close matches to the Grizzlies, 5-8, and 2-8, that surrendered the match.

The Pioneers boast a 7-2 overall and a 6-2 conference record heading into next week's HCAC Championships. The championships begin October 19 at 10 a.m.