LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Women's Tennis suffered a 4-3 defeat against the Delaware State Hornets in their home opener Wednesday afternoon.

Three Broncs earned victories in singles, highlighted by Daniela Naves, who dominated her match against Delaware State's Sia Mahajan to pick up the Broncs' first win of the afternoon 6-1, 6-4. Lisa Dierick, who was named Jersey Mike's MAAC Rookie of the Week earlier today, concluded her match shortly thereafter with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Lucia Casas Blas.

The longest singles match of the afternoon – and the only one extended to a third set – was between Elle Catanzarite and Delaware State's Hannah Watkins. With all eyes on this match for the third set, Catanzarite battled back after trailing 4-1 to pick up a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. It was the second time of the match Catanzarite erased a 4-1 deficit to win the set, as she achieved this feat in the first set as well.

"You definitely see where a team and the backing they have from their teammates can make a big difference," Head Coach Timothy Koch said after the match. "Even when they lose a match, they're supporting their teammates, and you need that when things get tight."

Despite the strong performance in singles, the Broncs were unable to score a win in doubles, which wound up being the difference in today's outcome.

"Despite the match being decided, we still had one court in play, and we fought and showed our toughness….It shows that we're going to be tough to beat down the stretch."

Rider will head to Florida for a three-game slate over Spring Break, beginning this Sunday against Slippery Rock. The Broncs' next home match will be against Norfolk State on March 22nd.