Oct. 3, 2014

PRINCETON, N.J. — Three members of the South Carolina women’s tennis team opened play in the Princeton Invitational on Friday at the Lenz Tennis Center in Princeton, N.J.

In singles action, Alex Martin nearly pulled out a win against Luba Vazhenine of Penn, falling 4-6, 6-3, (10-5), while Alison Mills had a close call in her loss to Penn’s Lina Qostal, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5. Fosnacht also lost a member of the Penn squad, Alexandra Ion, by scores of 6-2, 6-2.

Fosnacht and Martin teamed up for three doubles matches on the day, but fell short of securing a victory. They took on duos from Columbia, Duke and Princeton, losing 8-6 in two of those contests and 8-1 in the match-up with Columbia. Mills ended up teaming with players from Boston College and Columbia for her three doubles matches, but she also did not walk away with any wins. Her matches ended in scores of 8-3 to Columbia, 8-3 to one duo from Princeton and 8-2 to another Princeton tandem.

“It was a tough day for us but we went through spurts where we played very well,” assistant coach Jeff Nevolo said. “Ali Mills played her most complete singles match of the fall and Alex Martin and Katie Fosnacht competed hard in doubles this morning but came up short on the big points. They actually came all the way back from down 7-1 and had chances to get into a breaker against a talented Princeton team. We will get back to work tomorrow and keep our focus on improving each day this weekend.”

Play continues in the Princeton Invitational on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

SINGLES
Luba Vazhenina (Penn) def. Alex Martin (South Carolina), 4-6, 6-3, (10-5)
Alexandra Ion (Penn) def. Katie Fosnacht (South Carolina), 6-2, 6-2
Lina Qostal (Penn) def. Alison Mills (South Carolina), 7-6(2), 7-5

DOUBLES
Alexandra Solovyev/Kanika Vaidya (Columbia) def. Katie Fosnacht/Alex Martin (S. Carolina), 8-1
Rachel Kahan/Rebecca Smaller (Duke) def. Katie Fosnacht/Alex Martin (S. Carolina), 8-6
Joan Cannon/Amanda Muliawan (Princeton) def. Katie Fosnacht/Alex Martin (S. Carolina), 8-6
Rima Asatrian/Adi Milstein (Columbia) def. Alison Mills (S. Carolina)/Emily Safron (Boston College), 8-3
Sara Goodwin/Katrine Steffensen (Princeton) def. Amy Li (Columbia)/Alison Mills (S. Carolina), 8-3
Katie Goepel/Caroline Joyce (Princeton) def. Alison Mills (S. Carolina)/Heini Salonen (Boston College), 8-2