Tournament Results
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Sophomore Rebecca Graff and freshman Gabriella Jonsson won the doubles title during the opening weekend of the 2010-11 season for the Norfolk State women's tennis team at the Cape Henry Invitational at the Cape Henry Racket Club.
On Friday, the team got things going in the doubles brackets, with Graff and Jonsson winning the women's 'A' flight doubles draw.
Graff and Jonsson earned the title after a pair of wins over Shepherd opponents. They first defeated Brittany Moreland and Audra Praskwiecz, 8-3, before taking an 8-2 win over Brittany Bolster and Christina Hammond.
Jonsson then advanced to the semifinal round in the 'A' bracket Saturday in singles play along with senior Jennifer Astbury and junior Naeemah Brooks.
Astbury swept Brittney Moser of Chowan, 6-0, 6-0, before a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Bolster. Jonsson, fresh off her title in the Flight 'A' doubles draw the day before, won a pair of matches, starting with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Moreland. She then swept junior teammate Ashley Foster, 6-0, 6-0. Brooks also advanced after downing Hammond, 6-1, 6-1.
In the semifinal Sunday, Jonsson downed Brooks, 6-0, 6-2, while Astbury lost to Chowan's Inesa Asatryan, 6-3, 7-5, in the other semifinal match. Jonsson led Asatryan, 7-5, in the championship match before rain halted play for the tournament.
Earlier in the day Saturday, Foster rallied to defeat Chowan's Brittany Bullock, 4-6, 6-0, (10-4) before her loss to Jonsson, while senior Chenge Tsapayi also came out victorious with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Praskwiecz. Freshman Maryna Kariuk and Graff were not as fortunate, as Kariuk fell to Hammond, 6-0, 6-2, while Graf came up on the short end of a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Asatryan of Chowan.
Several other Spartans competed on Friday in the doubles bracket, as Astbury and Tsapayi lost to Bolster and Hammond, 8-5, while Brooks and Foster lost to Bullock and Asatryan, 8-6. Brooks and Foster rebounded, though, to defeat Tara Lunney and Moser of Chowan, 8-0, in the consolation bracket before knocking off teammates Astbury and Tsapayi, 8-1.
The team will be back in action at the Hampton Roads Invitational Oct. 8-10 at Huntington Park in Newport News.
