Women's Tennis Begins Play at UVa Fall Invitational

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s tennis team began the 2011-12 season Friday as play began at the UVa Fall Invitational at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers had four players advance to the singles semifinals and two doubles teams advance on the first day of play.

The Flight A singles, Virginia has two of the four semifinalists. No. 2 seed Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) posted a pair of straight set wins to advance, while third-seeded Li Xi (Kunming, China) won her first two collegiate matches to move on. The Cavaliers also have two of the four semifinalists in Flight B. First-year Molly O’Koniewski (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) rallied from dropping the first set to win in both her matches, and Maria Fuccillo (Rockville, Md.) reached the semifinals with a pair of wins.

In doubles, the team of Xi and Fuccillo won their opener in Flight A to reach the quarterfinals. O’Koniewski and Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) advanced to the semifinals of Flight B with an opening round win.

Two other Cavaliers, Emily Fraser (Rye. N.Y.) and Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton. Fla.), had a strong first day as they competed at the Duke Fab-4 Invitational in Cary, N.C. The duo won twice in doubles to reach the final of their flight, and both won their first round of singles to advance to their flight quarterfinals.

The UVa Fall Invitational runs through Sunday at the Snyder Tennis Center with play beginning at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free.