October 1, 2009
Tech ready for Hokie Fall Invitational
Tournament includes players from 10 teams

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team will host the 16th Annual Hokie Fall Invitational this weekend featuring 65 players from 10 teams. The event, Oct. 2-4, will be held at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center on the Virginia Tech campus. Both the indoor and outdoor courts will be utilized during the tournament with play to begin at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free.

The event features players from Albany, Appalachian State, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Elon, Marshall, Radford, Tennessee Tech, Winthrop and Virginia Tech. The tournament includes participants from 20 countries around the globe.

Friday’s action will begin with one round of doubles followed by two rounds of singles. Saturday’s action opens with two rounds of doubles and one round of singles. Finals in all flights will be held on Sunday.

In Flight A singles, Yasmin Hamza (Jr., Cairo, Egypt) will play Elisa Simonetti (Elon) at 10:30 a.m., and Christin Newman (Fr., Greensboro, N.C.) takes on Catherine Kellner (Marshall) also at 10:30 a.m. Also in Flight A, Martha Blakely (So., Reading, Pa.) will face Ellie Linsell (Appalachian State) at 11:30 a.m.

Two Hokies will see action in Flight B as Shannon Betts (So., Newnan, Ga.) battles Mirna Matic (Radford) at 11:30 a.m., while Courtney Rauscher (So., Evans, Ga.) received a first round bye and will see her first action at 1 p.m., versus the winner of the Mia Drobnjak (Radford)/Caroline Mauch (Appalachian State) contest.

Katie Blow (So., Richmond, Ga.) opens her Flight C competition versus Ali Gores (Davidson) at 10:30 a.m. and Emily Lauten (Fr., Marietta, Ga.) faces Hayley Wahl (Elon) in a noon Flight D match.

The Tech duo of Blow/Hamza open the first day of the tournament at 9 a.m., with a Flight A doubles match versus Kelly Holtzhausen/Diana Navrostskaya (East Tennessee State). Blakely/Holly Johnson (Jr., Tallahassee, Fla,) received a first round bye and will not see their first action until Saturday morning.

Lauten/Newman will play Katie Barnhill/Victoria Cran (Tennessee Tech) at 9 a.m., in Flight B and Betts/Rauscher face Aubrey Brooks/Caitlin Crawley (Albany) at 9:30 a.m., in the same bracket.

Following this weekend’s action, Tech will host the 2009 ITA Atlantic Regional, Oct. 22-26, at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

For updates on Virginia Tech women's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_WTennis).

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