Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Lexington, Ky. - The Transylvania tennis teams kicked off the 2021 season with a slew of impressive performances at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Invitational hosted by Transy Tennis at Top Seed Tennis Club on Saturday afternoon.

Picking up right where they left off last season, the Transylvania women's team started the day off with five straight singles victories over the Anderson University Ravens, including a 6-0, 6-0 win by Porsche Robinson and a 6-0, 6-2 victory by Jessica Burton.

Making her Transylvania debut, Grace Gardner posted a perfect 3-0 record on Saturday. The freshman picked up a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Anderson's Madelyn Brown and a 6-2, 6-3 win over Rose-Hulman's Breanna Rogers.

Gardner also teamed with Erin Biddle for an 8-4 doubles win over the doubles team from Rose-Hulman.

Christina Duvall and Alyssa Igyarto also turned in impressive performances as the two combined to go a perfect 6-0 on the day. Altogether, the Transylvania women's team went 8-4 in singles play with a perfect 3-0 mark in doubles play on the day.

On the men's side, the Pioneers opened the day with five singles victories over Anderson, including a 6-0, 6-3 win by Arjun Gupta over Anderson's Seth Nation. Later in the day, Gupta picked up a gritty 7-5, 7-6 victory over Joey Keal from Hanover.

Another one of the bright spots for the Pioneers on Saturday was the performance of freshman duo Jon-Michael Schulte and Jared Wells, who picked up their first collegiate victories. Schulte defeated Anderson's Austin Hostetler 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) while Wells cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Brant Brouillette of Anderson.

In doubles action, the Pioneer team of Nick McNamee and Noah McNamee claimed a thrilling 8-7 (7-0) win over Rose-Hulman's Josh Giambattista and Rhian Seneviratne.

On the day, the Transylvania men's team went 6-6 in singles play with a 1-2 mark in doubles play.

The Pioneers will be back in action on Friday, February 19, when the Transylvania men and women host the Covenant College Scots on Day One of the Transylvania Invitational. The matchups between the Pioneers and the Scots are both slated for 4:00 p.m. starts at Top Seed Tennis Club.

For more on Transylvania tennis, follow @TransyWTennis and @TransyMTennis on Twitter