Williamsburg - The William and Mary women's tennis
team will host the 19th annual Tribe Invitational this weekend, Sept. 9-11. The
three-day event will include 10 programs from across the country and consist
of five singles flights and two doubles brackets. The event will be played at
the Millie West Tennis Facility, located on the Brooks Street behind William and Mary
Hall, as well as the Rec Courts, which are adjacent to the Commons
Dining Hall on Ukrop Way. Competing in the Invitational along side W&M will
be Columbia, James Madison, Old Dominion, Penn, Richmond, Tulane, VCU, Virginia Tech and
Winthrop.
The event began in 1993 and has become
one of the top college women's tennis tournaments on the East Coast. Friday
will begin with two rounds of doubles followed by a round of singles. On
Saturday, competition will open with a round of doubles followed by a two
rounds of singles. The final day of the event, Sunday, will be the championship
and consolation rounds of both singles and doubles. Play begins each day at 9
a.m. with Flights A, B and C of singles and both doubles draws taking place at
the Millie West Tennis Facility. Flight D and E of singles will be played at
the Rec Courts. Complete draws for the 2011 Tribe Invitational will be
released on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Sophomores Kayla Rizzolo and Maria Belaya will make their W&M debuts
over the weekend and play in the top singles flight. Rizzolo earned a
first-round bye and will open competition on Saturday at 11 a.m. Belaya begins
singles play with a 1:30 p.m. match against Tulane's Mariam Kurdadze in the
first round on Friday.
Junior Marlen Mesgarzadeh, a two-time First-Team All-CAA
honoree, is the lone W&M representative the B singles flight. She opens
play on Friday against Katarina Kovacevic of Columbia in the first round. In
Flight C, senior Katie Kargl will receive an opening round bye and take part in
the second round on Saturday at noon. Junior Nina Vulovich will meet James
Madison's Megan Douglas at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in the first round of Flight C.
Senior Tori Ford and sophomore Sydney Smith will compete in
Flight D. Smith received a first-round bye and will take part in the second
round on Saturday at 11 a.m. Ford opens competition against Old Dominion's
Juliana Pires at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
In doubles, Belaya and Mesgarzadeh will compete in the top
doubles flight and meet Columbia's Nicole Bartnik and Bianca Sanon at 9 a.m. on
Friday in the opening round. The Tribe tandem's second-round match is slated
for either a 10:45 a.m. or 11 a.m. start time.
Kargl and Vulovich will face the Tulane team of Jenny Hois
and Caroline Magnusson in the first round of Flight B at 9:45 a.m. on Friday.
The Tribe duo's second round tilt will take place at either 11:30 a.m. or 11:45
a.m. Ford and Smith will also compete in the Flight B doubles draw and take on
Emily Dvorak and Emma Helisten of Tulane at 10 a.m. on Friday. The Tribe
twosome's second round doubles contest will be at 11:45 a.m.
