The Mason women's tennis team opened the spring season by going 1-1 at the VCU 4+1 Tournament. 

 The Patriots started the day by defeating the Bison of Howard in a very close 3-2 match. Mason got on the board first when the doubles team of Olivia Lacy-Thompson and Scarlett Walston defeated Sajela Harlow and Ashley Garner by the score of 6-0, 6-1. Howard quickly tied the score when the Esu Erdenebat had to default her match to Umarah Mughnee in the second set because of illness.  Morgan Yang put Mason back on top when she topped Stacey Roheman in a third set tie-breaker. Freshman Jane Awad sealed the victory when she outlasted Audra Bell in another third set tie-breaker. The Bison closed the final gap to 3-2 when Jessica Josiah closed out her match with Mason sophomore Marijke Boers in another tie-breaker.

After a short break the Patriots were back on then court playing the host team and defending A-10 champion VCU. The Patriots lost their first match of the season by a score of 5-0. The Rams secured the first point by winning the doubles as the team of Olga Barshcheuskaya and Ana Batiri defeated the team of Yang/Boers. VCU secured the net two points and the victory when Mina Saygi and Scarlett Walston fell in singles action. Brittany Pilkington and Olivia Lacy-Thompson were the last two Patriots on the court. They battled but eventually fell to their Ram opponents.

"I was pleased with our energy and our fight today," commented Head Coach Stephen Curtis. "We played two tough teams today and each Patriot played hard and battled for every point."

 Mason moves to 4-1 on the year. Mason will be back in action when they travel to the Naval Academy on February 7th at 9:30am.

Mason 3, Howard 2

Singles

1.    Morgan Yang (Mason) def. Stacey Roheman (HU), 6-3, 1-6, 10-4

2.    ​Jane Awad (Mason) def. Audra Bell (HU), 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

3.    Umarah Maughnee (HU) def. Esu Erdenebat (Mason), 6-3, 4-1 (default illness)

4.    Jessica Josiah (HU) def. Marijke Boers (Mason), 3-6, 6-4, 10-7) 

Doubles

1.     Lacy-Thompson/Walston (Mason) def. Harlow/Garner (HU), 6-0, 6-1

Mason 0, VCU 5

Singles

1.    Salome Kvitashvili (VCU) def. Brittany Pilkington (Mason), 6-2, 6-3

2.    Darya Berezhnaya (VCU) def. Olivia Lacy-Thompson (Mason), 6-2, 6-3

3.    Alzbeta Veverkova (VCU) def. Scarlett Walston (Mason), 6-2, 6-1

4.    Alejandra de Lasa (VCU) def. Mina Saygi (Mason), 6-0, 6-2

Doubles

1.  Barscheuskaya/Bartiri (VCU) def. Boers/Yang (Mason), 6-0, 6-1