BLACKSBURG, Va. --- The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team travels to Williamsburg, Va., this weekend to participate in the 17th Annual William and Mary Invitational. The three-day event (Sept. 11-13) featuring players from 11 teams will be played throughout Williamsburg at the Busch Courts, the Recreation Courts and the Kiwanis Courts.
The flighted tournament includes players from East Tennessee State, Harvard, Marshall, Maryland, Richmond, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth, Winthrop and the host Tribe. The event is comprised of five singles flights and a trio of doubles flights. Each day of the event will open with doubles matches at 8 a.m., followed by singles.
In Flight A singles, Martha Blakely (So., Reading, Pa.) takes on Ana Bara (Virginia Commonwealth at 9:30 a.m., while Yasmin Hamza (Jr., Cairo, Egypt) has a 10 a.m., match in the same flight against Lauren McCarthy (Penn State). Christine Newman (Fr., Greensboro, N.C.) makes her collegiate debut at 11 a.m., in Flight B versus top seed Laura Burns (Virginia Commonwealth) and in another Flight B contest Courtney Rauscher (So., Evans, Ga.) battles Nina Vulovich (William & Mary) at noon.
Shannon Betts (So., Newnan, Ga.) is Tech’s lone participant in Flight C and will play Lexi Brand (Maryland) at 9:45 a.m. In Flight D, Katie Blow (So., Richmond, Va.) has an 11:30 a.m., match against fourth seed Deanna Bailey (Marshall). Two Tech freshmen will see their first college competition in Flight E as Megan Conley (Knoxville, Tenn.) faces Riley Blanks (Virginia) at 10:15 a.m., and Emily Lauten (Marietta, Ga.), seeded third, takes on Oksana Krutiyenko (Maryland) at 11 a.m.
Flight A doubles has Hamza/Lauten playing Reich/Zaprazna (Marshall) at 8 a.m., while Betts/Blakely also play at 8 a.m., against the third-seeded team of Acharya/Cepeda (William & Mary). Blow/Conley see their first Flight B action at 9:15 a.m., versus the No. 3 seeds, Jaime/Kedzo (East Tennessee State) and Newman/Rauscher face the No. 4 seeds, Cao/Lehman (Harvard).
The event opens with the first round of doubles, starting at 8 a.m., on Friday followed by two rounds of singles, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday will open with two rounds of doubles, starting at 8 a.m., with one round of singles beginning at noon. The final day of the tournament will begin with doubles at 8 a.m. and conclude with singles, starting at 10 a.m.
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