Seattle, Wash. - The Eastern Washington University women's team kicked off its spring season with dual matches at Washington and Seattle University this past weekend.

The Eagles fell to the Huskies on Saturday, Jan. 9, before rebounding to top the Redhawks on Sunday, Jan. 10.

"Overall I am happy we came out on top but this team knows we have higher expectations for ourselves. The bar has been raised in our program and we are going to continue fighting to get where we want to be. We know we need to continue to work hard in practice to get ready for league play. I'm proud of the team for coming together and bringing the kind of energy we need to get these types of victories."

The Huskies, ranked 56th nationally, proved to be a tough opener for the Eagles. Sophomore Janaya Smith played in the number one spot for EWU, and faced Washington's Stacey Fung, who was ranked 65^th in the nation at the time of the match. It was a hard fought contest and Smith played up to her opponent, taking games from her in both sets. Ultimately she fell after two sets, 6-3, 6-3. Overall, the rest of the team played some close sets, but could not match UW's ability to finish points.

Eastern ended the weekend contests on a high note, winning 4-3 in a battle against Seattle. Smith headlined the singles portion, winning 6-2, 6-4 in the number one spot over Michelle Lui. The bottom of the lineup earned EWU some dominant wins, with sophomore Rachel Swindell taking out Kailyn Skjonsby 6-1, 6-1, and freshman Faye Worrall winning 6-1, 6-2 over Audrey Scott. The singles field finished with the match tied 3-3, and the deciding point coming down to the doubles field. Here EWU took three victories to seal the match. The team of junior Dani Young and junior Katrina Domingo took the two spot, beating Barbara Carey and Madison Maloney 6-3. The other victories came from senior Moira Hedberg and junior Erin Blessing with a 6-0 shutout, and Swindell and junior Carolina Lopez taking their match 6-3.

EWU will continue its spring season on the road against Washington State and Montana on Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24. The matches begin at 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., respectively.