Dudley, Mass. - The Nichols College women's tennis team opened the 2009 season with an 8-1 home victory over Clark University at the Francis W. Robinson Courts. Sophomore Chelsey Miller (Salem, Conn.) clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 5 singles after teaming up with first-year Alexandra Cifone (Bristol, Conn.) for an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles.

Jill McQuiggan (Weymouth, Mass.) and Megan Woodruff (Morris, Conn.) joined Cifone as first-year players in the Bison lineup, with all three earning their first collegiate victories. McQuiggan defeated Alexa Ebert in the top flight, 6-1, 6-1, while Cifone topped Emily Schweitzer (Northampton, Mass.) at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-3, and Woodruff completed the lineup in the sixth flight with a quick 6-0, 6-0 victory over Jenni Adams (Englewood, Colo.).

Maria Balabanova (Moscow, Russia) was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Andrea Nathan (Saddle River, N.J.) at No. 4 singles, while Clark's Julia Bergeron (Lewiston, Maine) picked up the Cougars' lone point with a 6-2, 6-0 win over the Bison's Molly McGuire (E. Sandwich, Mass.).

Nichols held a 3-0 lead after doubles play; McGuire and McQuiggan were the first to finish in the top flight with an 8-0 victory over Ebert and Livingston. Balabanova and Woodruff proceeded with an 8-3 win over Nathan and Adams at No. 3 doubles before Miller and Cifone finished out in the second flight by defeating Bergeron and Schweitzer.

The Cougars return to action on Thursday when they play host to Simmons in a non-conference affair that begins at 5 p.m.