NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings women's tennis team won their opening match of the CCIW Tournament on Thursday, defeating the Carthage Firebirds by a score of 5-1 to advance to the semifinals.

The No. 5 seeded Vikings grabbed the early lead after winnings two of the three doubles matches. Carthage got on the board first with a win at No. 2, but was met with an 8-4 win at the No. 1 spot from Caitlyn Hanulikova and Hannah Colbert. The third match of doubles proved to be a close battle, with Augie narrowly coming out on top with an 8-7 win from Natasha Gauerke and Grace Rider. The two won the tiebreaker by a score of 7-2.

In singles, Colbert brought Augustana one step closer to a match win, defeating her opponent at No. 4 by a score of 6-2, 6-1. The next match to finish was Hanulikova at No. 2, which proved to be the clincher. The junior defeated her counterpart 6-1, 6-2 to give the Vikings their fifth point.

With the win, Augustana moves to 10-6 on the season. The Vikings will take on top-seeded North Central in the CCIW semifinals at 1:30 p.m. from Nike Park in Naperville.