Women's Tennis Opens Fall with Strong Showing

ELON, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's tennis put forth a solid effort in the first fall tournament of 2017-18 at the Elon Invitational this past weekend.

The Mountaineers captured an impressive 24 victories across singles and doubles competition, which was highlighted by a strong outing in singles action. 

I'm really proud of how we competed over the weekend," head coach Blake Mosley said on Sunday. "It was great to get into some competition to see where we currently are and what we need to focus on in the coming weeks before the Wake Tournament." 

Taylor Bygrave started her fall with a bang as she won all four of her matches en route to capturing the Powell Bracket championship,  including the 6-1,1-6, 6-4 triumph over Coastal Carolina's Maria Khomchenko to cap off the 4-0 run. Melissa Machado also had a strong run in the Gold Bracket advancing to the semifinal round after downing Kaori Terunuma from Longwood, 6-0, 6-0. 

Heidi Swope and Rebecca Morse would be grouped in the Gold Flight with Swope notching a straight-set opening round win on Friday, while Morse bounced back after a Friday defeat to collect a pair of three-set victories. Morse showed some resiliency in both contests as she came back from a one-set deficit to triumph over her counterparts. Marisa Anthony competed as well over the weekend, participating in the Phoenix Flight and teaming up with another student-athlete from a different school. Anthony and Marthinsen showed came away with a victory to move onto the semifinal round in the Phoenix Bracket. 

For the freshmen, it was the first collegiate action they've seen and they performed exceptionally. Teodora Sevo and María Zacarias each earned themselves a win with Zacarias advancing to the consolation finals winning the last two matches. Sandra Anglesjö advanced to the semifinals in the Phoenix Bracket following a sweep over Vernoff from Emory. Emily Gaskins got in on the action with two wins in the consolation bracket after the first day of the event, further adding to the solid performance from the Mountaineers. 

In doubles play, Swope and Machado teamed up for a win and trip to the semifinals before falling in that round but would make up for it with a victory in the third-place battle over Barisano/Matute of UNCW. Bygrave and Morse capped off their weekend with two wins as a team in the consolation round, defeating pairings from Emory and UNCG. Ending the week was Zacarias and Gaskins, who both concluded App's weekend on a high note with wins in singles competitions in the extra matches that took place. 

Appalachian will have a few weeks off before the Wake Forest Invite. The three-day event will take place from Oct. 6-8.