LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates women's tennis opened its home slate Saturday with a 6-1 loss to No. 26 Vassar College in Merrill Gymnasium. 

Vassar (2-0) claimed the doubles point with wins at all three positions to take an early 1-0 advantage. Iris Li and Erin McCusker defeated the Bobcats' top tandem, Emelyn Harris and Iris Westmoreland, 6-4 in the No. 1 slot. Maddie Kirby and Ananya Krishnan edged Isabella Saul and Ava Steinberger, 7-5, at No. 2.

Gwendolyn Gray Sieun Lee secured a 6-4 win over Elise Hepburn and Grace LaFountain at No. 3 to put the Brewers ahead 1-0 entering singles action.

The highlight of the day came in No. 1 singles play where Westmoreland delivered a resilient three-set victory. After dropping the second set and falling behind 3-0 in the third, Westmoreland stormed back to close out a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win over McCusker, earning the Bobcats' lone team point of the match.

Vassar secured the remaining singles matches in straight sets across positions two through six to seal the road win.

"This group keeps showing up ready to fight and compete every time out, and I couldn't be prouder of how much they've grown," said Bates head coach Deepak Sharma. "They play hard for themselves and for each other, their togetherness and unity inspire me every, single day."

Big shout out to Iris (Westmoreland) for three wins at #1, including two against nationally-ranked teams in Caltech (Feb. 19) and Vassar. Her determination and professionalism sets the standard and makes her an incredible role model for this team."

Bates (1-4) will return to action Sunday with a challenging road test at No. 21 Wellesley College. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Wellesley, Mass.