Las Vegas, Nev. (Apr. 5, 2007) ???C Opening the Mid-Continent Conference portion of its schedule two time-zones away, the Oakland women???s tennis team dropped a pair of matches at the first conference cluster of the season. Oral Roberts downed OU, 7-0, in the first match of the day for the Golden Grizzlies, with Southern Utah scoring a 5-2 win in the second. Sophomore Amanda Scheer (Sarnia, Ontario) picked up a pair of wins in the match with Southern Utah to lead OU. Oakland just could not find an answer for Oral Roberts in the opener, falling in straight sets in every match. Seniors Jessica Erickson (Port Huron, Mich.) and Lauren Sanchez-Murphy (Rochester Hills, Mich.) put on the strongest match in doubles action against ORU, dropping an 8-4 decision at No. 3 doubles. Sanchez-Murphy and Michelle Maxfield (Commerce Twp., Mich.) had the best showing in singles play, winning three games each in their matches. In the second match against Southern Utah it came down to a pair of singles matches that went into third sets before things were decided. In the opening doubles play the OU team of Lisa Lulgjuraj (Warren, Mich.) and Scheer took their match at the No. 1 position, 8-5, but the other two contests went Southern Utah???s way by 8-4 scores to give the Thunderbirds the first point. In singles play the two teams each won a pair of straight sets matches to make it 3-2 in favor of SUU. Picking up the wins for Oakland were Scheer, who scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory in her No. 2 singles match, and Sanchez-Murphy, who was victorious at No. 6 singles by a 6-3, 6-3 score. At No. 5 singles Gabrielle Gogas (Sarnia, Ontario) took the first set of her match before her opponent came back to take the final two sets. At the No. 1 flight Lulgjuraj fought off a first set loss to take the second to square things off. In the third set she and Carmen Blanco battled to a 6-6 draw, forcing the match into a tiebreaker in which Blanco came out on top 8-6. Oakland will play Valparaiso tomorrow before returning home. Oral Roberts 7, Oakland 0 Singles 1. Emily Arkell (ORU) def. Lisa Lulgjuraj (OU) 6-1, 6-0 2. Paige McKenney (ORU) def. Amanda Scheer (OU) 6-0, 6-1 3. Tayler Pippin (ORU) def. Michelle Maxfield (OU) 6-1, 6-2 4. Hayden Rush (ORU) def. Jessica Erickson (OU) 6-0, 6-0 5. Rafaela Souza (ORU) def. Gabrielle Gogas (OU) 6-1, 6-1 6. Debbie Skinstad (ORU) def. Lauren Sanchez-Murphy (OU) 6-3, 6-0 Doubles 1. Arkell/Pippin (ORU) def. Lulgjuraj/Scheer (OU) 8-1 2. Rush/Mckinney (ORU) def. Maxfield /Gogas (OU) 8-1 3. Souza/Langston (ORU) def. Erickson/Sanchez-Murphy (OU) 8-4 Southern Utah 5, Oakland 2 Singles 1. Carmen Blanco (SUU) def. Lisa Lulgjuraj (OU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) 2. Amanda Scheer (OU) def. Lelia Kanuha (SUU) 6-1, 6-3 3. Shanna Docherty (SUU) def. Michelle Maxfield (OU) 6-2, 6-2 4. Emmi Bulloch (SUU) def. Jessica Erickson (OU) 6-3, 6-2 5. Deena Jenson (SUU) def. Gabrielle Gogas (OU) 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 6. Lauren Sanchez-Murphy (OU) def. Casie Brooks (SUU) 6-3, 6-3 Doubles 1. Lulgjuraj/Scheer (OU) def. Kanuha/Jenson (SUU) 8-5 2. Blanco/Docherty (ORU) def. Erickson/Sanchez-Murphy (OU) 8-4 3. Brooks/Bulloch (ORU) def. Maxfield /Gogas (OU) 8-4