BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Winning a closely contested doubles point was a springboard for Saint Louis in the Billikens' season-opening 7-0 victory over Northern Iowa Friday at Kings Point Sports Club.
 
Mariona Perez and Elizabeth Mintusova defeated Emma Carr and Olivia Fain 6-4 at No. 1 doubles, while Nawal Cheema and Anna Derecka edged Madeline Doherty and Issa Sullivan 7-6 at No. 3.
 
The Billikens won all six singles contests, four of them in straight sets. Mya Spencer overcame a first-set loss to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Doherty at No. 2. Cheema dominated the tiebreaker in a 7-5, 4-6, 10-3 win over Sullivan at No. 6.
 
Click the Results link to the right to view complete results.
 
"I was really proud of how we handled the pressure situations in doubles today," head coach Justin Stuckey said. "We kept the momentum from doubles going with a strong start in our singles matches to help secure the win."
 
Up next for the Billikens is a match at Missouri State Thursday, March 4.