After a strong step forward, the Riverland women's tennis team took that same stride back.

Ridgewater hosted the Lady Blue Devils to a 7-2 defeat in MCCC South Division tennis action Wednesday afternoon in Willmar. The Warriors took two of three doubles matches and followed it up with five of six singles victories.

Riverland's Melanie Sheedy had a hand in both Blue Devil wins. She teamed with Steph Bednar for a two-set triumph at No. 3 doubles, and she made short work of Beth Sykora for a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles.

The Devils drubbed Bethany Lutheran in their season-opener Saturday, 7-2, but Ridgewater turned the tables to level Riverland's record at 1-1.

"Between the two teams we certainly appeared to have more tennis talent, but we just were outplayed," said Riverland coach Suzy Hebrink. "They kept the ball in play far better than we did on this extremely windy day and played a little bit smarter under the conditions and made less mistakes.

"It's not a game of power hitting when you have 30 mile per hour winds and conditions like that."

Riverland's talented lineup added another tennis veteran to the squad. Tiffany Ankeny, an integral part of Austin High's 2002 section runner-up squad, moved into the Devils' order at the No. 4 singles. She was one of only three singles players to win a set.

"We just didn't play as strong as we could and maybe didn't play as smart as we could," Hebrink said. "It was a great match for us. We have to learn to adjust our game, and maybe play a little more consistently obviously."

Riverland has a busy week ahead of it, starting with a home match against Martin Luther College Friday at 2 p.m. at the Wescott Tennis Courts. The Blue Devils have meets on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

"All in all it was a great day of tennis for us," Hebrink said. "We struggled and that's OK. Now's the time we need to struggle. Mentally we need to play tougher and adjust our game."

Results:

Singles

Nicole Branch (RW) def. Gretchen Hansen, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0

Eva Quist (RW) def. Sara Zastoupil, 6-1, 7-5

Abby Martens (RW) def. Lisa Snyder, 7-5, 6-0

Kayla Bisori (RW) def. Tiffany Ankeny, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Kristin Gilles (RW) def. Steph Bednar, 6-3, 6-0

Mel Sheedy (RIV) def. Beth Sykora, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles

Branch and Quist (RW) def. Hansen and Zastoupil, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-8

Martens and Gilles (RW) def. Snyder and Ankeny, 6-4, 6-2

Sheedy and Bednar (RIV) def. Bisori and Sykora, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4