September 29, 2008

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University women's tennis team did not let the weather postpone the 2008 Longwood University Fall Invitational on September 27-28, as the team hosted James Madison, Liberty, and Radford. The Lancers received a top performance from Zsofia Jakab/Minusio, Switzerland (Lices Cantonale Locarns) and Laura Simon/Manresa, Spain (IES Lluis de Peguera) who met in the finals of Flight A. Longwood returns to the court on October 10-11 to participate in the Elon Invitational.
   
Simon started the invitational with an 8-6 win over Stephanie Brown (Libety) before moving on to defeat Mia Drobnak (Radford) 8-5. Simon then met up with her teammate Jakab for the championship of Flight A. The game was unable to be finished, ending 8-8 (1-0). Jakab took a similar route to the finals of Flight A, starting off the opening round with a 8-4 win over Kinsey Pate of James Madison, before taking down Petra Dajevic (Radford) 8-4.
   
In Flight B, senior Ashley Melson/Virginia Beach (Kellam) finished the initational as the consolation round winner. Melson kicked things off with a 8-6 loss to Kelly Maxwell of James Madison, sending her to the backdraw. Melson then found her rhythm, defeating Mirna Matic (Radford) 8-5 to move onto the championship game. Melson then proceeded to defeat Kristin Nimitz of James Madison 8-5.
   
Freshman Jackie Esguerra/Sauk City, Wis.(Prairie du Sac) did not fair as well as Melson in Flight B, dropping her opening round game to Fabiana Gouveia (Liberty 8-3), before falling to Nimitz 8-2.
   
Flight C singles saw Suzanne Edwards/Newport News (Hampton Roads Academy) take the consolation championship after falling in the opening round to Leah DeMasters (JMU) 8-1. Edwards then moved straight to the championship game of the backdraw after a bye was issued to Barrett Donner (JMU). In the championship Edwards battled strong to take out Anna Khoor of James Madison 8-6.
   
Sophomore Nasim Moadab/Colonial Heights (Colonial Heights) opened round one of Flight C wtih a 8-3 loss to Alexandra Spector (Radford), before going onto fall to Khoor 8-3. In the semi-final losers' consolation Moadab faced off against Iosou, falling in the backdraw 8-6.
   
Freshman Sarah Stafford/Midlothian (James River) moved into the main draw of Flight D, passing Ida Donner (JMU) with a W.O. and then did the same thing against Briana Jain of James Madison. Stafford then fell in the semi-final round against Alyssa Brandalik (JMU) 8-3. Stafford then earned a victory in the semi-finals losers' consolation, defeating Lauzon 8-1. 
   
Also in Flight D, the Lancers had a freshman showdown in the back draw as Chelsea Gray/Manassas (Osbourn Park) and Sydney Emerson/Mechanicsville (Atlee) met up after both dropping their opening round matches. Gray fell to Christina Hammon (Radford) 8-0 in the first round, while Emerson fell to Brandalik 8-1. Emerson went on to get the better of her teammate in the second round, defeating Gray 8-2 to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-final Emerson fell 8-0 to Emerald Lauzon of Radford.
   
In doubles action Esguera/Simon fell in the opening round of Flight A, falling 8-6 to Matic/Tmaic of Radford. Things didn't get better for the duo as they then fell to Erickson/Nimitz of James Madison 8-6 in the backdraw.

Flight A proved to be a tough one for the Lancers with Jakab/Melson suffering the same fate as Esguera/Simon. The pair fell to Khoor/Pate (JMU) 8-4, falling into the back draw. In the backdraw Jakab/Melson then fell to Davevic/Drobnjak 9-7.  
   
In Flight B doubles Edwards/Moadab made it out of the opening round, advancing to the main draw after defeating Hammond/Lauzon (Radford) 8-6. The pair then battled tough in round two, but were unable to get past Brandalik/B. Donner of James Madison, falling 8-6. Edwards/Moadab bounced back in the semi-finals losers' consolation, defeating Iosue/Spector (Radford) 8-5.
   
Emerson/Stafford dropped their opening round game in Flight B, falling 8-1 to DeMasters/Jain (JMU), before going onto advance to the semi-final of the backdraw due to a bye. In the semi-final Emerson/Stafford fell to Hammond/Lauzon 8-2.