By Vincent DeBellis

The Fordham Women’s Tennis team was in action for the second consecutive weekend, this time competing in the Quinnipiac Invitational from Sept. 18-20.
Junior Mayu Sato reached the championship in the A flight with wins over Lea Winkler of Drexel (6-3, 2-6, 10-5) and Alana Prinos of Providence (6-2, 6-2). In the finals, Sato was defeated by Rhode Island’s Galina Chernykh (6-2, 6-4).
Also competing in the A flight, junior Estelle Wong fell to Thandy Kangwa of Seton Hall in her first match (6-0, 6-3). She bounced back in the consolation draw by taking down Sacred Heart’s Lindsey Post, (8-4) before taking a loss to Fairfield’s Nicole Aragones, (8-5).
In the B singles flight, freshman Alexis Zobeideh and junior Hannah Drayton both represented the Rams. Zobeideh defeated Drexel’s Erin Bowsher (4-6, 6-0, 10-5) and Connecticut’s Summer Walker (6-3, 6-7, 10-5) before losing to Julia Keenan of Seton Hall (6-4, 6-4).
Drayton began the tournament with a loss to Zaina Zaki of Connecticut, (7-6, 7-5), placing her in the consolation bracket, where she took home the consolation title by defeating Taylor Gurda of Sacred Heart, (8-2) Meghan Zimmer of Fairfield (8-4) and Drexel’s Erin Bowsher (8-5) in the consolation championship.
The C singles flight featured juniors Destiny Grunin and Gianna Insgona. Insgona defeated Karen McKeough of Fairfield (6-2, 6-1) and took a loss to Kendra Bunch of Drexel (6-4,6-1).
Grunin opened with a loss to Shea Flanagan of Connecticut (6-2,6-1) then defeated Sacred Heart’s Olivia Podsiebierski (8-5) before being defeated by Providence’s Brooke Burnside (8-3).
In D singles, freshman Whitney Weisberg opened with a (6-4, 6-1) defeat at the hands of Drexel’s Fiorella Coria. In the consolation bracket, Weisberg reeled off three straight wins over Courtney Connors of Fairfield, (8-2), Sacred Heart’s Tori Oates (8-2), and Claudia Ruiz of Sacred Heart, (8-3), giving her the consolation crown.
In doubles competition, Drayton and Sato, fresh off an undefeated doubles run at Quinnipiac last weekend, were not as successful this time around, losing to Connecticut’s Summer Walker and Shea Flanagan (6-3) in the first round of A flight doubles. Also competing in A flight doubles were Wong and Zobeideh, who lost to Seton Hall’s Thandy Kangwa and Luize Strike (6-4).
In B flight doubles, Grunin and Insgona won their opening match over Brooke Burnside and Katherine DeNucci of Providence (6-3), before falling to Providence’s Hannah Zangari and Nicole Zytarski, (7-5).
The Rams are back in action for the third consecutive weekend at the Army West Point Invitational, taking place in West Point, New York, from Sept. 25 to 27.