For the women's tennis team, this weekend's William & Mary Invitational did not go quite according to plan. When two of the three juniors on a team without any senior members withdrew from the season-opening tournament, it was up to the younger players to take matters into their own hands.
Injury and illness forced Amanda Saiontz '07 and Daisy Ames '07 to pull out of their respective singles flights, the B flight and the C flight.
However, some of the younger Bears stepped up to the challenge. In the D singles flight, Anita Invancevic '08 crushed Anne Sophie Fankam of Texas Tech University 6-0, 6-1 and Neda Mihneva of the University of Maryland 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"Anita played an incredible match," said Assistant Coach Cecily Dubusker. "She showed that what we were doing in practice really paid off."
Alexa Baggio '09 was also impressed by her teammate's performance on the court. "Anita's an aggressive baseliner," Baggio said. "She's a really tough opponent."
Ivancevic was not able to continue her success, losing 6-2, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-4 to players from the University of Virginia. Despite the losses, Invancevic finished fourth.
Another player who made her mark in singles was Sara Mansur '09, who lost her initial match in the F singles flight 7-6 (5), 6-3, but later advanced to the consolation final by defeating Brooke Rogers of Maryland 6-1, 6-3 and Alizee Paradis of Marshall University 6-3, 6-2.
In the final, Mansur competed against yet another Virginia player in a gripping three-set match. Though Mansur eventually lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, she was upbeat afterwards. "I think I played pretty well for my first tournament," she said.
It was also Baggio's collegiate debut. Competing with Mansur in the F singles flight, Baggio also lost her first-round match, falling 6-3, 6-3. In the consolation rounds, Baggio posted a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Lara Alexander of Virginia before losing to Rales 6-2, 6-2.
The rookies cited first-match anxiety as their main reason for dropping their first-round matches.
"We were all a bundle of nerves," Baggio said.
"It was definitely good to get the first-years some match experience," Dubusker said.
The doubles matches gave the inexperienced players more time to mature on the court. After Saiontz withdrew from the tournament, Mansur paired with Kara Zeder '07 in the A doubles flight. They lost both of their matches 8-2.
In the B doubles flight, Ivancevic and Michelle Pautler '07 fell in the first round to Virginia Commonwealth University 8-2. They also lost their main consolation round match 8-4 to Virginia Tech.
The duo did, however, reach the consolation final when Duke University defaulted from the match. Despite the free pass to the finals, the Bears fell to Marshall 8-3.
The Bears had two doubles teams in the C flight, as Ames partnered with Brett Finkelstein '09 and Kelley Kirkpatrick '08 joined Ashley Pariser '08. Unfortunately for Brown, both pairs went winless.
Baggio and Meredith Woodhouse '08 competed in the D doubles flight and proved more successful. Baggio and Woodhouse defeated the University of Richmond 8-5 and Virginia 8-2. The Bears eventually fell to Patricia Coimbra of Winthrop University and Juliana Naso of Maryland 8-1.
"We did alright under the circumstances," Dubusker said.
