The Mason women's tennis team traveled to the Annapolis, Maryland to compete in the Navy Blue & Gold Invitational this weekend. The eleven teams participating were: Bucknell, Buffalo, Delaware, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Mason, George Washington, Howard, Navy, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Towson.
The tournament began with doubles competition. In the A Flight the team of Sydney Green and Rachel Lee played two close matches but fell in both to teams from Seton Hall and Towson. In the B Flight Morgan Yang and Nicole Haigwood defeated their first round opponents from Navy before losing a tough match to Buffalo. Scarlett Walston and Liz Lowe were bested by teams from Fairleigh Dickinson and Delaware. Gabriela Arias and Sutherlyn Brinn played in the C Flight and fell to teams from Howard.
Walston, Lowe, Arias and Brinn all defeated their first round opponents but lost in the second rounds of their respective singles draws. Green and Yang, after losing their opening round matches, made it to the semi-finals of the consolation draws.
"This is probably the strongest tournament we play during the season," commented Head Coach Steve Curtis. "It gives us a benchmark to see where we still need improvement both individually as players and collectively as a team. It also gives us an opportunity to compete against teams from the Big 10, Big East, CAA, MAC, NEC and the Patriot conferences that aren't normally on our schedule."
Navy Blue & Gold Invitational Results
A Flight Doubles
Kim/Taal (Seton Hall) def. Green/Lee (Mason) 7-6 (4)
Shaknazarova/Shusterman (Towson) def. Green/Lee (Mason) 6-3
B Flight Doubles
Pasricha/Efteniou (FDU) def. Walston/Lowe (Mason) 6-2
Yang/Haigwood (Mason) def. Wreder/Rogers (Navy) 6-1
Shuren/Hall (Delaware) def. Walston/Lowe (Mason) 6-4
Abibula/Losada (Buffaloe) def. Yang/Haigwood (Mason) 6-1
C Flight Doubles
Harlow/Funches (Howard) def. Arias/Brinn (Mason) 6-3
Nasef/Boston (Howard) def. Arias/Brinn (Mason) 6-3
B Flight Singles
Mingxiu Du (Rutgers) def. Sydney Green (Mason) 6-2, 6-2
Sydney Green (Mason) def. Barbora Vasilkova (Towson) w/o
Emily Louie-Meaders (Navy) def. Sydney Green (Mason) 8-2
C Flight Singles
Scarlett Walston (Mason) def. Kyra Yap (Rutgers) 6-4, 6-1
Anna Savchenko (Buffalo) def. Scarlett Walston (Mason) 6-3, 3-6, 10-6
D Flight Singles
Carlee Conway (Navy) def. Morgan Yang (Mason) 3-6, 6-4, 10-8
Lee Levy (Rutgers) def. Nicole Haigwood (Mason) 6-4, 6-4
Sarah Hall (Delaware def. Nicole Haigwood (Mason) 8-5
Morgan Yang (Mason) def. Claire Bedi (Towson) 8-6
Audrey Channell (Navy) def. Morgan Yang (Mason) 8-5
E Flight Singles
Liz Lowe (Mason) def. Sajela Harlow (Howard) 7-5, 7-5
Meaghan O'Malley (Navy) def. Liz Lowe (Mason) 6-3, 6-2
F Flight Singles
Gabriela Arias (Mason) def. Sabrina Helm (FDU) 6-0, 6-0
Sutherlyn Brinn (Mason) def. Christina Joynes (Howard) 7-6 (2), 6-4
Draga Sabotic (Delaware) def. Gabriela Arias (Mason) 6-2, 6-3
Danika Kahatapitiya (Navy) def. Sutherlyn Brinn (Mason) 6-2, 6-2
