CHICAGO, Ill. - The Western Illinois women's tennis team kicked off the opening weekend of its 2011 Spring Season by splitting two decision in Chicago this weekend.

The Fighting Leathernecks (1-1) dropped a match by a 7-0 count at No. 35 DePaul (1-0) on Saturday before downing Chicago State (0-1) by a 4-3 score on Sunday afternoon.

"We played a great team on Saturday in DePaul," said head coach Chris Kane. "DePaul was extremely talented. They dominated us, even though I thought our players hit the ball quite well. We didn't make a lot of unforced errors, which is encouraging. Making your opponent earn the point versus our giving away the point is what we're hoping to see."

Western Illinois was able to win just four sets against the Blue Demons, who won three of the six singles matches in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) while winning each set in doubles competition.

Marcela Brandao and Amy Unzicker each dropped decisions by the same scores (6-1, 6-1) at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots while Jill Furlong was defeated (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 2 position. Melissa Kaufmann and Madison Zimmerman fell in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) in the No. 5 and No. 6 spots while Claire Griffin had the team's best showing (6-0, 6-3) in a loss at the No. 4 spot.

In doubles play, the Leatherneck team of Brandao/Furlong fell at the No. 1 spot (8-0) while the team of Griffin/Unzicker lost by the same score at the No. 2 spot. Kaufmann and her partner, Kara Chicoine, dropped an 8-0 decision at the No. 3 position.

The Leathernecks fared better on Sunday, picking up their first win of the young season over Chicago State in a match that came down to the wire.

"Our win against Chicago State on Sunday was as thrilling as they come," said Kane. "The deciding point came down to the No. 4 singles match. Claire and her opponent split the first two sets and went to 6-6 in the third set, before playing a tiegreaker to decide the match. Claire staved off three match points against her before winning the deciding third set tiebreaker to win the match and give us the victory."

"Not to be forgotten is the big doubles win by Claire and Amy, which won the doubles point and gave us a chance to play for the team victory."

In singles play, the Leathernecks recorded three victories to help defeat the Cougars. Griffin won her match at the No. 4 spot in thrilling fashion (4-6, 6-3, 7-6) while Kaufmann and Chicoine picked up victories by default.

Brandao fell at the No. 1 spot (6-1, 3-6) while Furlong dropped her No. 2 match (6-1, 6-1) and Unzicker fell at the No. 3 position (6-3, 6-1).

The Leathernecks fared well in doubles play as the team of Griffin/Unzicker won at the No. 2 spot (8-5) while the duo of Kaufmann/Zimmerman won by default at No. 3. The team of Brandao/Furlong fell at the No. 1 spot (8-1).

"We are going to be challenged by the strong competition we will face this year," said Kane. "There's no denying that Marcela, Amy, and Claire are playing improved tennis from their level in the Fall. The team's attitude is a good one, and this Chicago State win was great for the ladies."

Western Illinois will travel to Creighton for a 7 p.m. match on Saturday before heading to Waterloo, Iowa to take on South Dakota and UNI on Feb. 5.