Coming off a successful outing at September’s West Point Invitational, the women’s tennis team headed down to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Lehigh Invitational last weekend. The team did well, with junior Estelle Wong topping the No. 1 singles bracket, sophomore Gianna Insogna winning the No. 2 singles flight and senior Destiny Grunin winning the No. 4 singles flight.
Wong began her tournament in the first singles flight with an 8-4 victory over Michele Urbinati of Bucknell, then followed that up with an 8-6 win over Lehigh’s Christina Auyeung in the semifinals. Meanwhile, her teammate, senior Mayu Sato, rolled past Grace Conrad of Lafayette, 8-3, and then Sibel Can of Lehigh, 8-5. The two athletes met in the finals, with Wong winning 6-4, 6-4.
Meanwhile in the second singles flight, Insogna started with an 8-4 victory over Paige Leavy of Bucknell, followed by another victory, 8-5, over Lehigh’s Grace Lin. Another Ram versus Ram matchup resulted, as sophomore Carina Ma topped both Michi Papich of Bucknell (8-2) and Briana Maravich of Lehigh (8-3). Insogna beat Ma, 6-3, 6-1.
The third singles flight did not go as well for the Rams, but freshman Maia Balce and sophomore Alexis Zobeideh still gutted out good performances. Balce advanced to the finals with an 8-6 victory over Lehigh’s Jamie Campisi and a cruising 8-0 win over Lauren Tracy of Lafayette. Zobeideh advanced to the semifinals, winning 8-2 over Jill Auteri of Bucknell before being bested by Lehigh’s Cassidy Cruz, 8-5. Unfortunately, Balce’s finals were not as fruitful as her previous rounds. Going head to head with Cruz, Balce lost the first match 6-3 but came back in the second with a 5-7 victory. However, she struggled in the second set, losing 10-1.
The fourth singles flight featured Grunin fighting her way to the top of the bracket with an 8-0 victory over Haley Matthis of Lafayette, an 8-1 victory over Bucknell’s Melissa Parks and a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 victory over Kirstin Godau of Lehigh. Sophomore Whitney Weisberg also competed in this flight, with an 8-3 win over Bucknell’s Danielle Gannon. Unfortunately, she fell 8-3 to Godau in the semifinals. Caroline Sa, a junior, claimed the consolation title for the flight with an 8-2 victory over Lafayette’s Meredith Block.
Wong and Sato teamed up in the first doubles flight, starting with a 6-0 victory over Lehigh’s team of Maravich and Cruz and following that up with a 6-2 win against Sibel Can and Grace Lin, also of Lehigh. Wong and Sato made an easy showing of Lehigh’s Christina Auyeung and Jamie Campisi, with a 6-1 win in the finals. Carina Ma and Maia Balce also competed in the flight, winning 6-0 over Rocine Moschella and Tori Almeida of Lafayette. Unfortunately, Ma and Balce were defeated 6-1 by Auyeung and Campisi.
Weisberg and Insogna made it to the semifinals in second doubles play after winning 6-3 over Lafayette’s Grace Conrad and Meredith Block. Lehigh’s team of Kirstin Godau and Leigh Friedman stopped them short of the finals, winning 6-2.
The team will not compete again until Seton Hall comes to Fordham on Oct. 15 at 12 p.m.
