BLACKSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team opened play at the 19th annual Hokie Invitational on Friday. Senior Nina Vulovich claimed a first-round victory in Flight C for singles, while both Tribe doubles teams recorded a win on the first day of competition.

Vulovich evened her season mark at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Mareli Sanchez of Wofford in the first round of the 16-player C Flight. On Saturday, she will meet UNCW's Kelly Cameron at 10:30 a.m. in the quarterfinals. Vulovich's second match of the day will be at 1:30 p.m. against either Virginia Tech's Tea Ivanovic or Camile Amrani of Winthrop in the semifinals or consolation draw.

In Flight A of doubles, senior Anik Cepeda and junior Hope Johnson opened with an 8-3 triumph over UNCW's Kelly Cameron and Miller Hales in the first round. The Tribe duo dropped its quarterfinal match-up with Marlen Hacke and Olga Kalodzitsa of Armstrong Atlantic and will face the Wofford pair of Sarah Evans and Guinn Garcia in the consolation bracket at 9 a.m. on Saturday. 

After dropping its opening round match-up in Flight B, Vulovich and junior Sydney Smith recorded their first win of the year in the consolation side. The Tribe pair downed the combined team of Virginia Tech's Mashal Temory and Allison Michael of Radford, 8-2. Smith and Vulovich will meet Audrey Coventry and Tessa Johnson in the consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

In other singles action, both Cepeda and Smith dropped three-set affairs in the first round of their singles flights. Cepeda fell to East Tennessee State's Antonia Kolovou, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, in Flight A, while Smith dropped a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 decision to UNCW's Christina Riley in Flight B. Cepeda will face Radford's Gemma Valls in the consolation rounds, and Smith meets Virginia Tech's Emily Lauten. Both players first match on Saturday will be at 11:30 a.m. with their second consolation match slated for 3 p.m.

The Hokie Invitational continues on Saturday with one doubles round followed by two rounds of singles in each flight. The event concludes on Sunday with one round of both singles and doubles.

W&M Results from the Hokie Invitational
Flight A Singles
Antonia Kolovou (ETSU) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) - 6-2, 1-6, 6-2

Flight B Singles
Christina Riley (UNCW) def. Sydney Smith (W&M) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Flight C Singles
Nina Vulovich (W&M) def. Mareli Sanchez (Wofford) - 6-3, 6-2

Flight A Doubles
Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) def. Cameron/ Hales (UNCW) - 8-3
Hacke/Kalodzitsa (AA) def. Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) - 8-2

Flight B Doubles
Dahbi/Espanna (ETSU) def. Smith/Vulovich (W&M) - 8-4
Smith/Vulovich (W&M) def. Temory (VT)/Michael (Radford) - 8-2