The Cornell women’s tennis team had a successful fall break in New York City. The team competed at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center Invitational in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on the same courts that the US Open was played only two months ago.

Matches began on Friday, when the Red opened up against a slew of teams from all over the eastern seaboard including many of its Ancient Eight foes.

Though the tournament was based on an individual draw, it is a great opportunity annually for the big east coast leagues to face off and learn more about their competition before the team season begins in the spring.

The Red faired relatively well, with many team members reaching the later rounds of the single elimination tournament. Freshman hot shot Christina Ordway fell in the quarterfinals of the Flight B singles draw to the No. 2 seed, Elizabeth Epstein from Yale. Epstein would go on to take the runner’s up title, falling to an unseeded underdog in the final.

The Red, notably, did not have an entry in Flight A. The Red has consistently had difficult competing with some of the hard-hitting singles players in the Ivy League, falling back on doubles in order to pick up wins.

Big break: The women’s team competed at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., while the men took the weekend off. The men’s team competes today in the ITA Regionals.

In Flight C, junior Sinziana Chis fell in the quarterfinals to the No. 2 seed, Alex Kelleher from Boston College, in a rout, 6-2 6-0.

In the doubles, the Red had a tough time breaking out of the first round. The duo of freshman Sarah O’Neil and senior Susan Sullivan fell in the first round of Flight A, while Ordway and junior Leah Seyburn also fell in the opener. Freshmen Kristen Kohagen and Geraldine Leong were able to push through to the quarterfinals of Flight C before falling to the No. 2 seeds, Sarah Lederhandler and Jessie Rhee out of Yale.

The men’s team will return to action this weekend at the Men’s DI ITA Regional Championships, which will be held at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. The Red is expected to perform well after its two-week break. The team has had a lot of great victories in the fall season so far. Championships begin today and continue through the weekend. After solid performances in recent weeks, it seems that the Red is beginning to coalesce into a solid team that is ready for the spring season.

Junior Mirza Klis is the only member of the Red with an entry into this weekend’s draw. Klis was also given the No. 3 seed in the draw, and is expected to do well. Klis will face Mark Hemy of Farleigh Dickinson University in the first round.

As the individual season comes to a close in the coming weeks, the Red will begin to prepare for the upcoming team season and the Ivy League season. The Red has its first team fixture scheduled for February 6, against Marist College, Georgetown and Binghamton.