University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Elon Invitational
Spiders Post Successful First Weekend Of Fall Play
09/12/2016 | Women's Tennis
ELON, N.C. – Underclassmen led the way for he University of Richmond women's tennis team in its opening weekend of fall play, as the Spiders went 14-6 overall and two singles players and two doubles teams went undefeated in the Elon Invitational.
Freshmen Lyndell Giffenig and Kiana Marshall led the way for the Spiders in singles play, both reaching the Phoenix bracket final, which was not played. Giffenig defeated UNCG's Corinne Blythe 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, Radford's Claire Nguen 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Winthrop's Arianna Pepper 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) to reach the championship, while Marshall defeated Radford's Lilly Ellick 6-1, 6-0, and then Appalachian State's Marisa Anthony 6-1, 6-2 and Devin Knors 6-0, 6-0 to go undefeated in singles play.
Ana Ramirez reached the finals of the Powell singles bracket, going 3-1. The sophomore defeated Liberty's Aleksandra Panchenko 6-3, 6-1, Appalachian State's Mckayla Zupan 6-2, 6-3 and UNCG's 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 before falling to Winthrop's Alissa Solovena, 0-6, 1-6 in the finals.
Senior Kelsey Williams also competed in the Powell bracket, reaching the quarterfinals by defeating Melissa Goodman of Emory, 6-2, 7-5 before falling to Solovena, 0-6, 1-6.
Junior Gaby Rosales and senior Brittany Boys competed in the singles Maroon bracket, each reaching the quarterfinals. Rosales defeated Liberty's Rebekah Anderson, 6-3, 7-6 (2), before falling to Elon's Suzanne Zenoni, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6. Boys defeated Appalachian State's Rebecca Morse, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, but fell to Emory's Bridget Harding, 6-2, 6-3.
Freshmen Lea Owens and Dessislava Zlateva both competed in the Gold singles bracket, with Owens reaching the semifinals and Zlateva the quarterfinals. Owens defeated Appalachian State's Melissa Machado, 6-2, 6-4 after receiving a first-round bye, but then fell to Wake Forest's Alexis Franco, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6. Zlateva defeated Emory's Daniela Lopez, 6-3, 6-2, before retiring against Wake Forest's Courtney Meredith with the score sitting at 1-6, 6-4, 3-5.
Giffenig completed a weekend sweep when she and doubles partner Ramirez won the Powell Doubles bracket, going 3-0. Zlateva and Williams teamed up in the Phoenix Doubles, also going 3-0 to win their bracket. Rosales and Marshall played in the Gold Doubles bracket, going 2-1 and claiming third place.
The Spiders return to action the weekend of September 30, when they travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to compete in the Wake Forest Invitational.
Players Mentioned
