MERION STATION, Pa. - The Saint Joseph's women's tennis dropped a hotly-contested match to Atlantic 10 foe George Mason, 4-3, Friday afternoon at the SJU Tennis Complex.

Battling for the first point of the match, both the Hawks (3-8) and Patriots picked up a win to start. Senior Aurora Davis and sophomore Alex Zachem were 8-2 winners at the top flight, but George Mason evened it with a win in the third flight.

With the opening point set on the second flight, SJU's  Claire Minnoe and Maureen Devlin went to a breaker, but eventually fell 8-7 (6).

Moving to singles play, Davis and Minnoe got SJU on the board with convincing wins at the top two flights. Davis earned a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles, while Minnoe posted a 6-3, 6-4 decision at the second flight.

George Mason (13-7) fought back for wins at the third and fourth flights, but Kelly Mulquin drew the match even at 3-3 with a 6-1, 6-3 win at the fifth flight.

With the match coming down to the sixth singles match, SJU's Arianne Polatnick and George Mason's Esu Erdenebat each took a set, forcing a decisive third set. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Polatnick fought through minor injury a while, but was forced to retire due to it, giving the set and the match to George Mason.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday when they host Rhode Island at noon.

Doubles
1. Aurora Davis/Alex Zachem (SJU) def. Morgan Yang/Marijke Boers (GM) 8-2
2. Olivia Lacy-Thompson/Brittany Pilkington (GM) def. Claire Minnoe/Maureen Devlin (SJU) 8-7 (6)
3. Esu Erdenebat/Jane Awad (GM) def. Kristina Eisenbrand/Sarah Contrata (SJU) 9-7

Singles
1. Aurora Davis (SJU) def. Jane Awad (GM) 6-1, 6-0
2. Claire Minnoe (SJU) def. Brittany Pilkington (GM) 6-3, 6-4
3. Marijke Boers (GM) def. Kristina Eisenbrand (SJU) 7-6 (3), 6-0
4. Morgan Yang (GM) def. Maureen Devlin (SJU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Kelly Mulquin (SJU) def. Olivia Lacy-Thompson (GM) 6-1, 6-3
6. Esu Erdenebat (GM) def. Arianne Polatnick (SJU) 4-6, 6-2, 3-2 (retired-injury)