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BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team kicked off the 2016 Hokie Fall Invitational in impressive fashion, as the Hokies finished with 10 singles victories on Friday, at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, in Blacksburg.

Tournament Central

The day began with one round of doubles across two flights, followed by two rounds of singles in four flights.

“I thought today was awesome,” said sophomore Emily Pence. “All the girls came out with great energy, and we gave it our best. We fought, and we didn’t give up. It was an awesome showing from singles and doubles, and I cannot wait for the rest of the weekend.”

“I really enjoyed playing in this tournament so far,” said freshman Luisa Uscocovich. “Someone is always there to cheer you on and hearing different voices scream your name is really encouraging. You learn something different in every match, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. We just want to get better every day. That’s why we are here. We want to improve.”

In doubles action, the freshmen duo of McKenzie Collins and Fallon Delp fell to UNCW’s Laura Gomez and Celeste Matute by a score of 8-4. The doubles pairing will have a bye in the consolation bracket tomorrow and will compete in the semifinal match at 10 a.m.

Of note, four doubles teams had a first round bye in the main draw and will compete in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Junior Sloan Barton and Pence will compete in the Hokies Flight with senior Sansitha Nandakumar and Uscocovich. Junior Sarah Baron and freshman Nancy Ghanem also will participate in the Tech Flight with senior Francesca Fusinato and freshman Natalie Novotna. All four matches are set to begin at 9 a.m.

“Sloan and I are going to play our first doubles match tomorrow, and we have a really good doubles history in this tournament,” Pence stated. “We are looking forward tomorrow. Last year, we got second place, so we are really shooting for first place this year.”

In singles, Tech tallied 10-of-16 victories in its respective draws on Friday.

Fusinato and Novotna took care of business in the Maroon Flight, advancing to the semifinal round set for tomorrow at 12 p.m. Fusinato cruised past Radford’s Drousile Dzeubou in straight sets and picked up a 6-1, 6-3 victory. Novotna also claimed a three-set battle over JMU’s Timea Guibe. Novotna captured the first set, but dropped the second. She then came back strong in the third set, only giving up one game, to claim the match by a score of 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.

In the Orange Flight, Nandakumar captured wins over JMU’s Rachel Nelson (6-1, 6-4) and Radford’s Natalie Sayer (6-3, 6-2) to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. Baron also claimed a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision over Radford’s Meili Martin in the first round, but fell to Marshall’s Daniela Dankanych in round two (3-6, 6-1, 6-3).

The Hokies kept rolling, as Pence tallied a quarterfinal victory in the Grey Flight. The Virginia Beach native claimed the first set, but dropped the second. She then bounced back in set three to claim the victory by a score of 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) over George Washington’s Taylor Nederlander.

In the fourth and final bracket, Uscocovich tallied two victories over Towson’s Lucy Gloninger (6-4, 6-4) and Radford’s Karlie Pope (6-3, 6-1) to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.

Play begins tomorrow with two rounds of doubles starting at 9 a.m., followed by singles.

A recap will be available following each day of competition at HokieSports.com.

Hokies Doubles Flight:

Laura Gomez/Celeste Matute (UNCW) def. McKenzie Collins/Fallon Delp (Tech), 8-4

Maroon Singles Flight:

Francesca Fusinato (Tech) def. Drousile Dzeubou (Radford), 6-1, 6-3

Natalie Novotna (Tech) def. Timea Guibe (JMU), 6-0, 2-6, 6-1

Orange Singles Flight:

Sarah Baron (Tech) def. Meili Martin (Radford), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

Daniela Dankanych (Marshall) def. Sarah Baron (Tech), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3

Sansitha Nandakumar (Tech) def. Rachel Nelson (JMU), 6-1, 6-4

Sansitha Nandakumar (Tech) def. Natalie Sayer (Radford), 6-3, 6-2

Magda Aubets (VCU) def. Nancy Ghanem (Tech), 6-3, 6-4

Nancy Ghanem (Tech) def. Melis Bayraktaroglu (GW), 6-3, 1-6 1-0 (6)

Grey Singles Flight:

Laura Gomez (UNCW) def. McKenzie Collins (Tech), 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5

Kimmy Herrock (JMU) def. McKenzie Collins (Tech), 7-5, 6-3

Sara Grubae (GW) def. Fallon Delp (Tech), 6-2, 6-2

Fallon Delp (Tech) def. Camilla Littlewood (Radfrod), 7-5, 6-4

Emily Pence (Tech) vs. Taylor Nederlander (GW), 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)

Black Singles Flight:

Kamilla Beisenova (GW) def. Sloan Barton (Tech), 6-2, 6-4

Luisa Uscocovich (Tech) def. Lucy Gloninger (Towson), 6-4, 6-4

Luisa Uscocovich (Tech) def. Karlie Pope (Radford), 6-3, 6-1

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