BOONE, N.C. - For the first time in the Blake Mosley Era, Appalachian State University women's tennis will open the fall at the Elon Fall Invitational this weekend.

The Mountaineers will be one of seven teams in the field with Emory, UNC Greensboro, Richmond, Radford, and Liberty. Appalachian returns 10 of 13 student-athletes from 2015 and three of their top wins leaders in Melissa Machado, Gabrielle Wreder, and Heidi Swope. Machado and Wreder tied the team lead with seven wins while Swope notched six victories under her belt.

Rebecca Morse also returns this season for the Apps, who'll play in her first full season for Appalachian. Morse returns after tallying four victories as she just played in the spring. Taylor Bygrave is back for her sophomore season where she had a solid freshman campaign, leading the squad with eight total doubles victories, five of which came with Megan Mullen.

Also returning for Appalachian is Remi Andre and McKayla Zupan.

App State finished 7-14 last season but played the likes of No. 4 North Carolina, No. 44 Wake Forest, No. 16 Flagler (Division III) and No. 47 Georgia State. Appalachian nearly defeated UL Monroe in the Sun Belt Tournament, but fell short, 4-3.

With coach Mosley at the helm, he and the Apps are anxious to begin fall action. “We're ready to get the season started and use the fall to see where were at as a team, then improve from there on,” said Mosley. “We have a lot of talent coming back and it'll be important to use these tournaments to develop before the spring."

Check back with appstatesports.com for results at the conclusion of the tournament.