Hamden, Conn. – The Fordham University women's tennis squad opened its 2016 fall season this weekend by participating at the 2016 Quinnipiac Women's Invitational where
Mayu Sato advanced to the championship at B Singles and
Gianna Insogna won the C Singles consolation flight.
Mayu started play in B Singles with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 win over Sacred Heart's Brianne Lauria and then defeated Lea Winkler of Drexel in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6. In the semifinals, Sato bested UConn's Summer Walker, 6-4, 7-6 (1), to advance to the championship where she fell to Jacqueline Fitz-Randolph of UConn, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
Also competing in B Singles was
Estelle Wong, who advanced to the semifinals. She opened play with a 6-2, 3-6, 10-2 win over Providence's Amanda Pitoco and then defeated Carly Rodriguez, 7-5, 6-1. In the semis, Wong fell to Fitz-Randolph, 6-3, 1-6, 10-2.
In A singles, Catrina Ma advanced to the semifinals, opening with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Sarah Stuhlmann of Fairfield and then besting Quinnipiac's Rachel Horton, 6-1, 6-1. In the semis, Ma fell to UConn's Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva, 6-1, 7-5.
Maia Balce also competed in A Singles, falling to Drexel's Honami Yazawa, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round before defeating Olivia Podseibierski from Sacred Heart, 8-3, in the consolation bracket. She then fell to Quinnipiac's Jennifer Lu, 8-3.
In C Singles, Insogna fell to Army's Yuka Lin, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5, to move to the consolation bracket where she defeated Claudia Ruiz from Sacred Heart, 8-2, Quinnipiac's Nicole Karzarkov, 8-7 (6), and Army's Ally Haley in the championship, 8-2.
Also competing in C Singles was
Alexis Zobeideh, who defeated Haley, 6-1, 6-4, before falling to Quinnipiac's Proyfon Lohaphaisan, 6-4, 6-2.
In D Singles action,
Destiny Grunin defeated Emily Lombardi from Fairfield in the opening round, 6-1, 7-5, and Quinnipiac's Kelsi Oliphant in the quarterfinals, 6-0, 7-5, before falling to Gloria Son from Army in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-3.
Whitney Weisberg also competed in D Singles, falling to Alex Mircea from Quinnipiac in the first round, 6-2, 6-3. She rebounded to defeated Providence's Natalie Pitocco in the consolation bracket, 8-3, and then moved to the consolation final with an 8-1 win over Sacred Heart's Maggie Glynn. Weisberg fell to Drexel's Anisiya Simpson in the championship, 8-3.
In doubles play, the duos of Wong and Sato and Ma and Balce competed in the A flight with both advancing to the semifinals. Wong and Sato defeated Army's Valiunaite and Son, 6-2, and Providence's Epstein and Takanaka, 6-0, top move to the semis where they fell to Quinnipiac's Young and Horton, 6-1.
Ma and Balce opened play with a 6-4 win over Providence's A. Pitocco and Cyterski and then upended Drexel's Yazawa and Winkler, 6-4, to move to the semis where they fell to UConn's Perrotta and Fitz-Randolph.
In B Doubles, Zobeideh and Grunin defeated Sacred Heart's Oates and Vassalle, 6-0, before falling to Army's Funaro and Johnson, 7-5.
Weisberg and Insogna also competed at B Doubles, falling to UConn's Walker and Lazaro, 6-3.
The women's tennis squad returns to action from September 23-25 as they compete at the West Point Invitational.
