The JU women’s tennis team couldn’t play catch up after dropping the opening doubles point yesterday as the Dolphins fell to ETSU, 5-2, in the penultimate A-Sun match of the season.

The Dolphins (10-10, 2-7 A-Sun) now find themselves looking for help in the race to make the conference tournament as Kennesaw State, Mercer and JU all fight for the last ticket to Stetson.

“ETSU is a very strong side,” said JU head coach Shane Wood. “We knew how important this match was coming into it and we felt like we had a good chance but a couple key matches didn’t go our way and we couldn’t pull through.”

For the sixth time in conference play this season, JU dropped the opening doubles point, heading into singles play down, 1-0. The reunited team of Tatiana Soldatova and Eve Castaing came up victorious for the visitors, fighting to an 8-6 win.

After losing the doubles point, the Dolphins struggled in singles play, producing victories in the Nos. 2 and 4 positions. Castaing made it an undefeated day with a straight set victory (7-5, 6-3) while Sara Londono also needed just two sets to win, 7-5, 7-6.

The Dolphins will close out the regular season with a trip to cross-town rival UNF on Wednesday.