ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's tennis team kept its slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-2 Centennial Conference triumph at Muhlenberg, giving the Bears rare back-to-back victories over the Mules.

Ursinus (9-6, 2-5) had not defeated Muhlenberg (2-9, 1-6) since 1999 before last season's 6-3 decision in Collegeville, but thanks in large part to the continued excellence of their doubles teams, the Bears made it two in a row on Wednesday.

Junior Christine Palazzolo and senior Stephanie-Jane Seabra upped their stellar record to 16-2 (12-2 dual) with an 8-0 whitewashing at third doubles, part of another dominating effort for Ursinus, which improved to 40-15 overall (.727) in doubles play for the whole season. Palazzolo and Seabra have won seven matches in a row, while Bashaw and Danziger (12-3 dual) stretched their own winning streak to six.

Senior BreAnna Bashaw and sophomore Ariel Danziger coasted to an 8-1 win at number two, while sophomores Ashley Nguyen and Aileen Bevard ran away with an 8-2 verdict on the top court.

Bashaw was impressive at number two singles, rolling to a 6-0, 6-1 rout to give her 95 career victories with three regular-season matches remaining. Bashaw's triumph clinched the conference result for the Bears, who took a 4-0 lead when Bevard's opponent at third singles defaulted trailing 5-0 in the first set. Bevard continued her spectacular season, moving her record to 13-2 in dual matches (14-3 overall).

Danziger (6-4, 6-1) and Palazzolo (6-4, 6-3) posted straight-set victories at fourth and fifth singles, respectively.

Muhlenberg's Sara Finger, the reigning CC Player of the Week, picked up a win at first singles, and Jenny Levenson just outlasted Ursinus junior Robin Alsher by a 10-8 spread in the third-set super tiebreaker.

Ursinus will need to win its final three matches and get some help elsewhere to qualify for the CC playoffs for the second straight season. The quest continues when they host Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, April 23; the Bears will honor Bashaw and Seabra before the match as part of Senior Day.