From Oct. 8 to 9, the women’s tennis team played at the Whitewater Warhawk Fall Invitational in the Warhawk Tennis Complex hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Senior transfer Anastasyia Salenko finished in second place overall, while freshman Nefeli Zafeiri finished fourth, both in the No. 1 Singles Draw. She won her first singles game 6-0, 6-1 and then claimed the semifinals victory 6-0, 6-0. As she advanced to the final, Salenko lost 6-2, 6-0. Zafeiri won her opening match 6-3, 7-6 (7-6), which got her a spot in the semifinal, but then was defeated 6-2, 6-3. Zafeiri played for the third place yet lost 6-3, 6-3.
As the number two seed, sophomore Casey Smith won the No. 2 singles draw by claiming victories in all of her three matches. She first won 6-1, 6-2; then made it to semifinals and won 6-1, 6-1; and subsequently won in the final 6-7 (6-7), 6-4, 11-9.
Junior Jovana Vujanic was also part of the No. 2 singles draw and finished third. In her first match she claimed the victory by going 5-7, 6-3, 12-10; then was defeated 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals, but bounced back by winning the third-place match 7-6 (7-6), 4-6, 10-6.
In the No. 3 singles draw, freshman Sage Hills and senior Joie Reisch got fifth and sixth place, respectively. Hills lost her first match 6-0, 6-3 but then won her other two games. Reisch dropped her first match 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 3-10 and then won her second by walkover (the opponent decided not to play the match).
Sophomore Grace Sueflohn took fifth in the No. 4 singles draw as she lost 3-6, 4-6 in her first game but won her other two matches 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-3, respectively. In the No. 5 singles draw senior Sophie Davis lost her first two matches and got the victory in the seventh-place match 6-2, 6-2.
Senior Agnes Florczyk finished fourth in the No. 7 singles draw winning 6-3, 6-3 in her opening match but losing in the semifinals and third-place match. Freshman Julia Huette finished third in the No. 8 singles draw winning her first and third-place match 6-1, 6-1, and 6-2, 6-2, respectively.
Regarding doubles, Smith and Zafeiri took third in the No. 1 draw with a 2-1 record. Salenko and Reisch finished fifth going 2-1 as well, followed by Sueflohn and Hills finishing seventh in the No. 2 Doubles Draw with a mark of 1-2. Davis and Vujanic won the No. 3 Doubles draw, winning all of their three games, while Huette and Florczyk took fourth in the No. 4 Doubles Draw going 1-2.
College tennis is officially a spring sport but plays a few matches in the fall. However, as claimed by Salenko, the main difference is that in the fall, the matches in this “draw” style are more player to player rather than university against university.
“We play against girls from other teams but we could also play against our own teammates,” said the senior psychology major. “For example, at this tournament, Joie and Sage played against each other in their consolation final.”
The Flyers will conclude their fall schedule as they travel to Northern Illinois University to play at the Northern Illinois Women’s Invite on Oct. 29-21 in DeKalb, Illinois.
Photo Credit: Luis Chavez
