The women’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season with a spirited performance at the women’s college tennis invitational held at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., over the weekend.
“It was a great way to end the fall season,” said senior captain Laura Tallent.
The Red competed against a field made up of teams from Army, Michigan, Princeton, Kentucky, Kansas, Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Rutgers, and Penn State. The team faced tough competition in both the singles and doubles fields in its last tournament of the fall season.
“We have a positive outlook for the [spring] season,” Tallent said. “We had great competition [this] weekend. It was good preparation for the Ivy season.”
The team’s most successful competitor was freshman Nisha Suda, who advanced to the quarterfinals of Flight C singles. She lost to eventual champion Sara Schiffman of Penn, 6-2, 6-1. Junior Melissa Tu also competed in Flight C, but was eliminated in the second round.
In Flight A singles, junior Akane Kokubo advanced to the second round before losing. Tallent lost her first match, but won her second to advance in the back draw before being eliminated in her third match.
Flight B singles was a similar story, with junior Erika Takeuchi advancing to the second round and freshman Kasia Preneta losing her first match but winning her second. Freshman Melanie Tu lost her first match in Flight D singles.
“We’re strong in singles,” Tallent said. “We need to pick the right doubles teams and get in practice.”
The current doubles’ teams made a good effort this weekend.
In Flight A, the duo of Melissa Tu and Takeuchi recorded one loss and two wins over three matches. Kokubo and sophomore Mollie Edinson teamed up for an 8-6 loss to Christine Skoda and Brittany Brown of Kansas in the first round of play.
Melanie Tu and Preneta, who lost their first match but advanced through the back draw with two wins, represented the Red in Flight B. Tallent and sophomore Liying Wang posted an even record of one loss and one win in Flight B as well.
“This is my last year, so I want to make it the best,” Tallent said of the upcoming spring season. “We want to have fun and play well, and get some good Ivy results.”
Archived article by Olivia Dwyer