Women's Tennis: WVU Finishes Maryland Invite
September 26, 2004 09:59 PM | General
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By Jarrod Sudduth for MSNsportsNET.com
September 26, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team completed their first tournament of the year with a collection of solid performances on Sept. 24-26 in College Park, Md.
The young Mountaineers experienced a great deal of success in both the singles and doubles categories.
West Virginia’s most successful showing of the weekend came in Flight B doubles where the duo of junior Raynie Theis and freshman Stacey Percival finished second overall. The two Mountaineers topped Syracuse’s Huignard/Leung, 8-2, and American’s No. 1 seeded pair of Colarusso/Anderson. In the Flight B title match, Theis/Percival fell to Walfgram/Zivanovic of Richmond by a score of 8-3.
"Raynie and Stacey played great together this weekend," coach Dan Silverstein says. "I thought that all of our doubles teams showed great promise."
In Flight A singles, sophomores Ashley Constantine and Kelly Walsh fell in four competitive matches over the weekend.
Constantine, a Binghamton, N.Y., native, fell to Mollie Edinson of Cornell (6-2, 6-0) and Liora Gelblum of Georgetown (6-2, 7-6). Walsh, a native of Chalfont, St. Giles, U.K., was defeated by Veronika Subertova of Maryland (6-2, 6-4) and Ale Pedergnana of UMBC (6-1, 6-0).
In Flight B singles, freshman Monica Lyskawa showed the coaching staff why she will compete for a top three position this spring. Lyskawa defeated UMBC’s Adriana Fonseca, 6-4, 6-4, before falling to Katie Bramnate of Syracuse, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in a hard-fought three set match. The Brampton, Ontario, native fell to Emily Anderson of American in her consolation match by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
"Monica has all the talent in the world," Silverstein says. "She is exciting to watch and will be a force to be reckoned with throughout her career."
Freshman Natalia Prinz also showed a great deal of promise with an impressive come-from-behind victory over one of Cornell's best players. Prinz came from behind to top Dana Cruite of Cornell, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, before going down in straight sets to Masha Senic of Maryland, 6-3, 6-0. In the consolation match, the Tczew, Poland, native was defeated by Catherine Zawadzki of Syracuse, 6-1, 6-1.
After missing most of last season with a knee injury, sophomore Catherine Koontz made her return to the WVU lineup count with a first round victory over Anne Watkins of George Washington in Flight C singles. The Lexington, N.C., native bowed out soon afterward though with a second round loss to Tamar Huppes of Maryland, 6-0, 6-0 and a consolation loss to UMBC’s Gabi Furdyna.
The third and final freshman to make her West Virginia debut was Percival who joined Koontz in the Flight C singles bracket. The Aiken, S.C., native fell her in first round matchup against Ming Leong of Syracuse (6-1, 6-1) before defeating UMBC’s Elizabeth Anderson, 7-5, 4-6 ret. in the consolation bracket. Percival was defeated in a three match thriller by Stephanie Cohen of Georgetown, 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 in her final match of the weekend.
On the doubles side, Walsh and Prinz began Flight A action by defeating Huppes/Grac of Maryland before falling to Grasu/Cox of Richmond, 8-0. The duo dropped a tough 8-6 decision to Alexander/Bode of George Washington in the consolation round.
West Virginia’s duo of Koontz and Constantine advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the Flight C doubles bracket. The team advanced past Andraskova/Ward of American by forfeit before falling to Rogers/Mihneva of Maryland by an 8-3 score in the quarterfinals.
“I’m proud of the way our girls competed against some tough competition this weekend,” Silverstein says. “This is the best showing we have had in the past three years. All of our girls played hard and I am excited about our upcoming Penn State Tournament.”
The Mountaineers return to action on Friday, Oct. 1, when they compete in the Penn State Invitational on Oct. 1-3 in State College, Pa.
