Playing in the first annual Loyola Invitational, the women's tennis team came away with four of the top seven spots this weekend. The tournament, using the Fed Cup format, had 16 teams of two playing one doubles and two singles with each match worth one point. 

All four of the Mason teams won their opening round matches. Brittany Pilkington and Sydney Green defeated the Longwood duo of Coronel and Diaz. Olivia Lacy-Thompson and Esu Erdenebat bested Smith and Benefiel from Mt. St. Mary's. Jane Awad and Scarlett Walston defeated another pair of Mountaineers, Veronis and Draper. Morgan Yang and Nicole Haigwood beat Burger and Pelak from Longwood.

In the second round the only team that managed to defeat a Mason team was another Mason team. Yang and Haigwood defeated Awad and Walston by the score of 2-1 to move into the semis. The pair of Pilkington/Green ousted Poje/Blake (MSM) while Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat defeated Hughes/Morgus from Loyola.

The semis pitted Yang and Haigwood against the number one team from the Greyhounds, Megan Hahn and Amanda Lanciano. Mason battled but lost in a close doubles match. Haigwood earned the lone point by defeating Lanciano in singles.

The other semifinal participants were all Mason. Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat took the doubles point over Pilkington/Green, 8-6. That turned out to be the difference as Green defeated Erdenebat 6-4, 6-3 but Pilkington had to withdraw from her singles match against Lacy-Thompson due to a back issue.

In the championship match tandem of Hahn and Lanciano proved too much for Lacy-Thompson and Erdenebat as the hosts took the match 3-0.

Awad and Walston won their final match over the Mount pair of Poje and Blake. Mason won two of the three matches in tiebreakers but came out on top 3-0.

"I was very pleased with our performance," commented Coach Steve Curtis. "This was a good format but since we did so well it meant a lot of matches over a two day period. At the end we were struggling with a few injuries but still had solid results."

Freshman Sydney Green remained undefeated in singles since becoming a Patriot. She now has won nine straight singles matches.

The Patriots are back in action on October 9-11 at the Naval Academy for their final tournament of the fall.

Loyola Invitational
Round 1
Yang/Haigwood (Mason) def. Burger/Pelak (LW), 8-4
Yang (Mason) def. Burger (LW), 6-1, 2-6, 14-12
Haigwood (Mason) def. Pelak (LW), 7-6 (7), 6-3
Yang/Haigwood (Mason) win 3-0

Awad/Walston (Mason) def. Veronis/Draper (MSM), 8-4
Awad (Mason) def. Veronis (MSM), 6-0, 6-0
Walston (Mason) def. Draper (MSM), 6-1, 6-1
Awad/Walston (Mason) win 3-0

Smith/Benefiel (MSM) def. Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason), 8-6
Lacy-Thompson (Mason) def. Smith (MSM), 6-0, 6-4
Erdenebat (Mason) def. Benefiel (MSM), 6-0, 6-1
Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason) win 2-1

Pilkington/Green (Mason) def. Coronel/Diaz (LW), 8-0
Pilkington (Mason) def. Coronel (LW), 6-4, 4-6, 10-6
Green (Mason) def. Diaz (LW), 6-1, 6-0
Pilkington/Green (Mason) win 3-0

Quarterfinals
Yang/Haigwood (Mason) def. Awad/Walston (Mason), 8-5
Awad (Mason) def. Yang (Mason), 6-4, 6-1
Haigwood (Mason) def. Walston (Mason), 6-7, 6-4, 10-6
Yang/Haigwood (Mason) win 2-1

Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason) def. Hughes/Morgus (Loy), 8-7 (7)
Lacy-Thompson (Mason) def. Hughes (Loy), 7-5, 6-4
Erdenebat (Mason) def. Morgus (Loy), 6-4, 6-0
Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason) win 3-0

Pilkington/Green (Mason) def. Poje/Blake (MSM), 8-2
Pilkington (Mason) def. Poje (MSM), 6-0, 6-4
Green (Mason) def. Blake (MSM), 6-0, 6-2
Pilkington/Green (Mason) win 3-0

Consolation
Alatore/Thomas (LW) def. Awad/Walston (Mason), 8-5
Awad (Mason) def. Alatore (LW), 6-1, 6-1
Thomas (LW) def. Walston (Mason), 2-6, 6-3, 10-7
Alatore/Thomas (LW) win 2-1

Semifinals
Hahn/Lanciano (Loy) def. Awad/Walston (Mason), 8-6
Hahn (Loy) def. Yang (Mason), 6-1, 6-2
Haigwood (Mason) def. Lanciano (Loy), 7-6 (7), 6-3
Hahn/Lanciano (Loy) win 2-1

Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason) def. Pilkington/Green (Mason), 8-6
Lacy-Thompson (Mason) def. Pilkington (Mason), default
Green (Mason) def. Erdenebat (Mason), 6-4, 6-3
Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat (Mason) win 2-1

Finals
Hahn/Lanciano (Loy) def. Lacy-Thompson/Erdenebat  (Mason), 8-2
Hahn (Loy) def. Lacy-Thompson (Mason), 6-1, 6-4
Lanciano (Loy) def. Erdenebat (Mason), 6-4, 2-1 (retired)
Hahn/Lanciano (Loy) win 3-0

Seventh Place Match
Awad/Walston (Mason) def. Poje/Blake (MSM), 8-7 (3)
Awad (Mason) def. Poje (MSM), 6-1, 6-2
Walston (Mason) def. Blake (MSM), 2-6, 7-5, 10-3
Awad/Walston (Mason) win 3-0