Sept. 23, 2011

West Point, N.Y. - The Fordham women's tennis team was back in tournament action on Friday, battling the elements as well as their opponents at the 2011 West Point Eastern Tennis Invitational. Through day one's action, the Rams have competitors in four of the six main draw quarterfinals, heading into Saturday.

In doubles action, Fordham's Sarah Ali and Bella Genkina are the third seed in the "A" flight and took on Albany's tandem of Cheryl Kukkonan and Kirsten Scott. Ali and Genkina took care of business, advancing to the quarterfinals by a score of 8-4. Ali and Genkina move on to play Hofstra's Malissa Galanchi and Sonia Tsay in the quarters.

In the "B" doubles flight, Fordham's Bethany Boyle and Taylor Holt took on the fourth seeded team of Alyssa Gleason and Maya Parker from Army. Boyle and Holt would pull the upset of the higher seeded Army duo by a score of 8-6. Boyle and Holt will play Providence's Ali Carnall and Elisabetta Dewitt in the quarters.

The "A" singles flight has Fordham's Amy Simidian as the #3 seed, and received a bye into the round of 16. Due to the rain, the scoring changed in the round of 16 from the normal three-set scoring to a single pro set, like doubles. Simidian was up to the challenge, topping Pittsburgh's Jacelyn Lu by a score of 8-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. She will now play Stony Brook's Katherine Hanson, an opponent familiar to Simidian, as the two players faced off last weekend in the "B" flight semifinals of the Stony Brook Invitational.

In the "B" singles flight, Fordham's Hanna Fritzinger began her play with a victory over Stony Brook's Salome Mkervalidze in the round of 32, winning the match, 7-6 (5), 3-6, and 10-7. Fritzinger then took on third seed Emily Stein of Army in the shortened pro set, due to weather. Stein would get the better of Fritzinger, topping her in the round of 16 by an 8-1 count.

The "C" singles flight saw Fordham freshman Julie Leong as the #3 seed, receiving a bye to the round of 16. She faced off against LIU's Lisa Maas, defeating her in a tiebreaker of the pro set, 9-8 (2). She will face UMass' Chanel Glasper in the quarterfinals.

In the "D" singles flight, Fordham's Sarah Tremaine fell to Marist's Sabrina Tahir, 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 32. Tremaine's next match will be in the quarterfinals of the "D" backdraw.

Play will continue on Saturday morning, beginning at 9:00 AM.