SWEET BRIAR, Va. — Two Averett University women's tennis players won their respective singles championships as the Cougars competed in Sweet Briar College's Battle of the Blue Ridge on Saturday.

Freshman Paula Ryhsen and sophomore Alejandra Garcia won their singles flights at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, as the Cougars opened the season.

At No. 4 singles, Ryhsen beat Southern Virginia University's Morgan Blount in her opening match, 6-1, 6-3. That put her in the championship against Sweet Briar's Isabella Guilarte. Ryhsen dropped the opening set 3-6, but bounced back to win 7-5 before sealing the match with a 10-4 victory in the super tie-breaker.

Meanwhile at No. 5 singles, Garcia moved past the Knights' Hannah Smith, 6-2, 6-4. She then took down Bluefield College's Kassidy Brown, 6-0, 6-1, for the title.

In doubles action to open the day, the duo of Garcia and sophomore Nakia-Lee Goodall advanced to the No. 3 championship with an 8-1 opening win over Bluefield's Brown and Farah Schweers. They fell 8-4 in the championship match to Southern Virginia's Smith and Ashley Cannon.

Averett, however, did win both double consolation championships. Seniors Eleanor Crane and Louise Hovhammar rebounded from a tough opening 8-7 loss to Southern Virginia's Lindsey Brown and Anna Peterson in No. 1 doubles with a consolation title win over Bluefield's Abigail Martin and Hannah Thacker, 8-3. Ryhsen and junior Inka Zeilstra fell 8-5 to Sweet Briar's Guilarte and Kate Kotany to begin play at No. 2 doubles. They responded with an 8-0 consolation title victory over Bluefield's Camilla Coradi and Katharina Zausek.

At No. 6 singles, Goodall edged Schweers 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 to get to the championship before falling to Southern Virginia's Leanne Aldrich, 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.

At No. 3 singles, Zeilstra topped Thacker 6-1, 6-2, to put her in the championship. However, she lost to Kotany in the title matchup, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

At No. 2 singles. Crane fell in a heartbreaker to Brown, who won 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 11-9. The No. 2 singles consolation did not start before the end of the event.

At No. 1 singles, Hovhammar dropped her opener to Sweet Briar's Ruth de Souza, 6-4, 6-1, before falling in the consolation. Bluefield's Martin won 6-7, 7-6 (7-6), 10-2