Sweeping the doubles point and securing wins on five of the six singles courts, the women’s tennis team defeated College of Charleston 6-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Curtis and Jacqueline Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium.

This was only the second match of the season that the team played outdoors. Senior Neils Barringer says she prefers it that way.

“I love playing outside, especially when it’s nice and warm out,” Barringer said. “You have to get used to the wind, but I used that to my advantage today.”

The Pack hosted the Cougars after a four-match stretch on the road, falling to Southern Methodist, TCU, Florida International, and gaining a win over Central Florida.

“This season we have had a bunch of tough, close matches,” Barringer said. “We just really hadn’t found our way, but recently we’ve been doing better.”

The Pack started off strong, taking the doubles point and winning on all three courts. No. 35 doubles team, junior Berkeley Brock and sophomore Lenka Hojckova, defeated Holly Dowse and Kinsey Casey 8-6 while freshmen Diana Mortlock and freshman Pender Sessoms beat Caroline Newman and Keely Mulligan 8-2.

Meanwhile, Barringer and junior Daria Petrovic struggled to win their doubles match against Laura Borza and Anna Lee Evans, 8-5, according to Barringer.

“Daria and I really had to fight for our match,” Barringer said. “We all came out strong and after winning the doubles point that really helped keep the ball rolling and gave us confidence for our singles.”

No. 2 Brock, No. 5 Mortlock and No. 4 Barringer won their matches in straight sets. Barringer clenched the match for the Wolfpack after coming back from being down in the first set.

“I was down 4-1 in the first set and [coach Alison Silverio] came over to me,” Barringer said. “She told me to just move this girl, just a couple steps out of her strike zone and once I started doing that and focusing on my depth I just kind of went from there.”

No. 1 Hojckova and No. 3 Petrovic struggled to defeat the Cougars after splitting sets with their opponents. Petrovic recently returned from an elbow injury, and is still getting back into the swing of things.

“It was rough not playing, but I took time off and it helped,” Petrovic said. “[In the third set] I just needed to be patient and make her play and miss the ball.”

Coach Hans Olsen said he was very happy with the team’s performance Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve never seen them get into it and break down their opponent as much as they did today,” Olsen said. “I was really pleased to see that.”

The women return to ACC action when they take on Wake Forest March 18.

“I want to see if we can take doubles up another level,” Olsen said. “It was a good step forward [Wednesday] with the doubles sweep, but we’re going to take that up a little more, and work on each of the girls’ strengths.”