Tartans Host Annual Invitational

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team began its season on Friday at the Carnegie Mellon University Invite.  The Tartans hosted Clarion University, Slippery Rock University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the invite that included both singles and doubles matches.

Sophomore Katie Cecil (Huntington Beach, CA) was the star of the show for the Tartans.  In her first collegiate matches, Cecil picked up victories 8-1 over Tanya Timko from Indiana and 8-3 over Anastassiya Zherdeva of Clarion.

Cecil went 1-1 in her doubles pairing with fellow freshman Angela Pratt (Saratoga, CA).  The two won a close victory over Indiana's pairing of Taab Louhabanjong and Katie Eaton, 9-8(3).  The pairing faltered in their final match, 8-4, taking on Franzi Steinhardt and Mariana Oliveira from Clarion.

Another freshman, Aubrey Moraif (Plano, TX) picked up one win and one loss in singles for Carnegie Mellon as she also was participating in her first ever collegiate tennis matches.  Moraif picked up an 8-5 win over Abby McCormick from Indiana, but lost to Jolien Borrenberghs of Clarion, 8-5.

Moraif, with freshman Jana Motie (Melbourne, FL), defeated the team of Lizzy Yetiskul and Lauren Coggins from Slippery Rock.  Motie participated in one singles match that she won 8-2 over Yetiskul.

The Tartan combo of sophomore Sonya Subramaniam (Columbus, OH) and junior Christina Brant (Canfield, OH) won the only doubles match they played, 6-2, over the Yetiskul/Coggins duo from Slippery Rock.

Turning in a similar performance to Cecil was senior Cze-Ja Tam (Palos Verdes, CA).  Tam won 8-1 over Kelly McBryan from Indiana and picked up an 8-5 victory over Erika Schnass, also of Indiana.

Tam, 2-0 in singles play, teamed up with freshman Lydia Utkin (Dublin, OH) and went 1-1 in their doubles matches.  The pair defeated Emilia Osborne and Timko of Indiana, 6-3.  They fell short in a close match with Schnass/McCormick of Indiana, 9-8(3).

Senior Laura Chen (Port Washington, NY) also had a good day for Carnegie Mellon.  She went 2-0 in singles picking up an 8-1 victory of Katie Eaton of Indiana, and a 8-6 win over Zherdeva from Clarion.

Carnegie Mellon's squad doesn't return to action until the weekend of Saturday, September 24th when they travel to Fredericksburg, Va. for the ITA Regional Tournament at the University of Mary Washington.