LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Norfolk State women's tennis team opened the fall tournament season this weekend at the Liberty Fall Classic.
In flight one, sophomore Andrea Macchiavello fell to James Madison's Alex Hule, 6-1, 6-0, in the quarterfinal round. Macchiavello also picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win over Christopher Newport's Jodi Noland before falling to Radford's Gemma Valls, 6-2, 6-3.
Several Spartans advanced in the consolation brackets in singles and doubles led by freshman Liza Gordeeva, who picked up a pair of victories in flight two. Gordeeva defeated Christopher Newport's Jackie Gaine, 6-0, 6-1, as well as West Virginia State's Andreea Slusarciuc, 7-6(3), 6-1. She also suffered a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Jacqueline Palmucci of James Madison.
Junior Krystal Scott competed in flight 3 where she fell to Longwood's Paloma Alatorre, 6-4, 6-0, as well as Radford's Gisela Garcia, 6-2, 6-2. Scott closed out the weekend with a 2-6, 6-1, 0-1 (7-10) loss to Diana Cotors of West Virginia State.
In flight four, sophomore Yvonne Kamegne suffered a 6-2, 6-2 loss to James Madison's Rachel Nelson, before losing to Sarah Moomau of Longwood, 6-3, 6-1.
Freshman Ana Popovic competed in flight five where she fell to James Madison's Sarah Khan, 6-0, 6-0. Popovic also picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brook Byrd of Christopher Newport before falling to Liberty's Brittany Yang, 6-0, 6-1.
In flight six, junior Mafalda Lhorca fell to Meg Napolitona of Radford, 6-2, 6-2. Lhorca also suffered a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Longwood's Bethany Law, before defeating Angela Stallman of Christopher Newport, 6-2, 6-2.
Freshman Ana Jovanovic closed things out for the Spartans in flight seven of the singles competition with a 7-6(4) loss to Anna Chekalkina of Christopher Newport. She also lost to Radford's Taylor Fay, 6-2, 6-0, as well as Virginia Tech's Frances Peyton, 4-1 (ret.).
In the doubles competition, Lhorca and Kamegne posted an 8-4 victory over West Virginia State's Kerns and Sandy before falling to JMU's Palmucci and Nelson, 8-2. They also fell to Liberty's Lauren Mabe and Annisha Domenech, 8-6.
Macchiavello and Gordeeva fell to James Madison's Hule and Pinchoff, 8-3. They also were defeated by West Virginia State's Franco and Slusarciuc, 8-4, before claiming an 8-3 victory over CNU's Gaine and Noland.
Popovic and Scott suffered an 8-0 loss to Liberty's Richard and Wellman, as well as an 8-1 loss to West Virginia State's Berna and Nadia Grlj.
The Spartans will travel to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 20-22 to compete in the George Washington Invitational.
