Cavaliers Have Strong Opening Day of UVa Fall Invitational

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s tennis team had an impressive start to the UVa Fall Invitational, as play began Friday at the Snyder Tennis Center. Six Cavaliers, including three in the top flight, advanced to the semifinals of singles in Virginia’s only home tournament of the fall.

The highlight of the opening day of play came in singles Flight A, where three Cavaliers advanced to the semifinals. Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) both scored a pair of ranked wins to reach the semifinals. Tomljanovic topped No. 96 Molly Scott of Dartmouth in the opening round before upsetting the tournament’s top seed, No. 34-ranked Martina Pavelec of Wake Forest. Vierra defeated No. 67 Anastasia Putilina of Utah in the opening round and No. 55 Sandhya Nagaraj of NC State in the quarterfinals. Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) reached the semifinals with wins over No. 79 Kayla Duncan of Wake Forest and Evgenia Kryuchkova of Utah.

Two Cavaliers reached the semifinals of Flight B. Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) advanced with a pair of three-set wins. Maria Fuccillo (Rockville, Md.) reached the semifinals with a pair of wins.

In Flight C, Marjorie Baker (Washington, D.C.) reached the semifinals by winning her two matches.

In doubles, four Virginia teams won their opening match to reach the quarterfinals. In Flight A, the teams of Fraser/Tomljanovic and Vierra/Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) advanced. The teams of Baker/Katie Gater (Dunblane, Scotland) and Peretz/Fuccillo advanced to the quarterfinals of Flight B.

The tournament continues Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center. Two rounds of doubles will be followed by one round of singles. Admission is free.