KEARNEY, Neb. – Northeastern State picked up one singles win but came up short against No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney, falling 6-1 on Friday at Harmon Park.

Annika Kleinhans earned the RiverHawks' only point of the day with a three-set victory at the No. 5 singles position. After dropping the first set 6-4, she responded with a 6-2 win in the second and took the tiebreaker 10-3.

In doubles, Camila de Michele and Sofia Kotliarova forced a tiebreaker at No. 3 but were edged out 7-6. The RiverHawks dropped all three doubles matches, giving the Lopers the opening point.

Tegan Heaton extended her singles matches to multiple sets. Heaton battled at the top spot against a nationally ranked opponent, taking the first set 7-5 before dropping the next two 6-0 and 6-2. 

"I felt like we played a solid doubles point, and even felt like maybe we should have won it, we just had some untimely mistakes on big points," said head coach Tim McLane. "We did a decent job of working and fighting for the first 75 minutes or so of singles, but once we got behind on the scoreboard, we let that creep into our decision making a little too much, and that again caused us some ill-timed errors."

"Definitely some positives to take away, and we made some good tactical adjustments, but in the end, the other team just outplayed us on the important points.  Time to regroup and get ready for a battle tomorrow in another crucial conference match."

With the loss, Northeastern State moved to 4-8 overall and 2-1 in MIAA play. Nebraska-Kearney improved to 14-4 and 4-1 in the conference.

The RiverHawks will look to bounce back in their next league match at Fort Hays State on Saturday.