MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's women's tennis team opened the season with a narrow 5-4 loss to Messiah at the Hoverter Tennis Complex on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 16. 

In doubles action, Allison Wootton and Breanna DeSantis breezed to an 8-1 victory over Messiah's Kasi Conjack and Isabella Heckman in the No. 1 contest, while Anita Liu and Hailey Dey, along with the duo of Carissa Fallon and Meghan Shanmugam suffered setbacks in the No. 2 and No. 3 outings, respectively. 

Wootton and DeSantis were also stellar in singles play, with the former cruising to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Conjack in the top matchup, while the latter picked up a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Kylie Walker in the No. 2 outing. Liu also earned a hard-fought singles win thanks to a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 decision over Heckman in the third solo spot. Dey, Fallon, and Shanmugam completed the team's lineup, with each falling in two sets in their singles contests. 

The Lions return to action when they host Albright for another non-conference match on Wednesday afternoon.