Tribe Advances Trio to Singles Finals

The sophomore duo of Magdalena Bresson and Lauren Sabacinski won the Fligth C Doubles crown on Saturday.

09/15/07 7:00PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary women’s tennis program captured the Flight C Doubles bracket and saw a trio of singles players advance to the finals of their respective brackets on the second day of the 15th annual William and Mary Invitational. The sophomore duo of Magdalena Bresson and Lauren Sabacinski won the Flight C Doubles crown with a pair of victories on Saturday. The teammates will now turn into foes as they are slated to meet for the Flight C Singles title on Sunday. Junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec also earned a spot in the finals for the Tribe in the Flight B Singles Draw.

Bresson and Sabacinski captured the Flight C Doubles title with a pair of convincing victories on Saturday. The sophomore duo disposed of MacKeever and Miller of Maryland, 8-4, in the semifinals, before rolling past Kardhordo and Arana of Richmond, 8-3. With the victories, the Tribe tandem improved to 3-0 on the year.

In the Flight C Singles semifinals, Sabacinski won the first set, 6-3, and led in the second, 1-0, over ODU’s Barbara Costa, before an injury forced Costa to retire, giving the Plantation, Fla., native an early spot in the finals. Bresson, on the other hand, needed three sets to dispose of Virginia’s Amanda Rales in the other semifinal. After claiming the opening set, 6-2, Bresson rebounded after dropping the second set by taking the third, 6-4, to claim the match. Both Tribe players improved to 3-0 on the year. The all W&M final is slated for a 10:45 a.m. start time at Busch Courts on Sunday.

Kasztelaniec cruised into the finals of the Flight B Singles bracket with a convincing win over the No. 1 seed and lone ranked player in the bracket, Yulia Rivelis of Penn. Kasztelaniec downed the No. 124-ranked player in the country, 6-3, 6-2, to garner a berth in the finals. The win was Kasztelaniec’s ninth straight dating back to the end of last season. She will oppose the No. 2 seed Reka Zsilinszka of Duke in the 11:15 a.m. finals at Busch Courts.

Kastelaniec and Zidek opened Saturday with an 8-3 quarterfinal victory over Nimitz and Downing of Virginia, before falling in the semifinals to Rivelis and Anismova of Penn, 8-5. The Tribe tandem, which is 2-1 on the year, will battle the Duke pair of Plotkin and Zawacki at 8 a.m. in the third-place match of the Flight B Doubles Draw at Busch Courts.

After dropping their quarterfinal match to the No. 53-ranked and No. 4-seeded Penn pair of Kosminskaya and Koulbitskaya in the top doubles flight, sophomore Ragini Acharya and junior Katarina Zoricic rebounded with an 8-6 win over Rales and Stevens of Virginia in the consolation bracket. The W&M pair improved to 2-1 on the year and will meet another Cavalier duo, Yahner and Pereira, at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

Acharya, who is ranked No. 90 nationally, dropped her first singles match of the season, falling short of the Flight A singles finals. She dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to No. 4-seeded and No. 48-ranked Kellie Schmitt of Marshall in the semifinals. The contest was a rematch of the ITA National Summer Championship semifinal, which Acharya claimed, 7-5, 6-4, over Schmitt. The Tribe sophomore will return to action in the third-place match of the top singles flight against No. 95-ranked Ekaterina Kosminskaya of Penn at 11 a.m. at Busch Courts.

The final day of the 15th annual William and Mary Invitational will begin at 8 a.m. with the doubles finals. The singles finals will follow beginning at 10:45 a.m.

Day Two Results (HTML)
Bracket (PDF)

W&M Results from Day Two of the W&M Invitational
Flight A Doubles
Quarterfinals
#4 Kosminskaya/Koulbitskaya (Penn) def. Acharya/Zoricic (W&M) – 8-6

Winner’s Bracket Consolation
Acharya/Zoricic (W&M) def. Stevens/Rales (UVA) – 8-6

Flight B Doubles
Quarterfinals
Kasztelaniec/Zidek (W&M) def. Nimitz/Downing (UVA) – 8-3

Semifinals
Rivelis/Anismova (Penn) def. Kasztelaniec/Zidek (W&M) – 8-5

Flight C Doubles
Semifinals
Bresson/Sabacinski (W&M) def. MacKeever/Miller (Maryland) – 8-4

Finals
Bresson/Sabacinski (W&M) def. Kardhordo/Arana (Richmond) – 8-3

Flight A Singles
Semifinals
#3 Kellie Schmitt (Marshall) def. Ragini Acharya (W&M) – 6-2, 6-4

Consolation Semifinals
Melissa Saiontz (Princeton) def. #3 Katarina Zoricic (W&M) – 4-6, 7-5, 10-5

Flight B Singles
Semifinals
Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) def. #1 Yulia Rivelis (Penn) – 6-3, 6-2

Flight C Singles
Semifinals
Magdalena Bresson (W&M) def. Amanda Rales (UVA) – 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) def. Barbara Costa (ODU) – 6-3, 1-0, retire

Flight D Singles
Katharine Attwell (BC) def. Barbara Zidek (W&M) – 6-2, 6-3