FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Brooke Tsuei (Summerfield, N.C.) won the No. 5 flight bracket, headlining a successful weekend for the Guilford College women's tennis team at the Methodist Fall Invitational at the Gene Clayton Tennis Center.
Tsuei excelled in her action to open the new season, sweeping singles play and winning in pretty convincing fashion throughout. In the opening round she bested Pfeiffer University's Anna Smith, 6-2, 6-2 before beating Methodist's Carsen Combs, 6-1, 6-2. Facing another Falcon in the finals, Addison Furr, Tsuei completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-2 victory to capture the crown in the No. 5 flight.
Tsuei was just the tip of the iceberg as
McKenna Merritt (Dobson, N.C.) was also impressive in the No. 4 flight. She handled Pfeiffer's Cayden Persichette, 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round then cruised past fellow Falcon, Aubrie Gatz, 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals. While Barton College's Taylor Erickson took the finals match, 6-2, 6-0, it was nonetheless a successful open for the second-year Quaker.
Carolina Dirk (Port Aransas, Texas) played against the top of the lineups, in the No. 1 flight, and maintained her lengthy winning streak dating back to last season, handling Claudia Zaratiegui from Division-II Barton, 6-4, 6-4, although she had to concede her second round match due to injury.
Zara Goolsby (Greensboro, N.C.) also competed in the No. 5 flight, in a separate portion of the bracket from Tsuei, going 1-2 with losses to Methodist's Madelyn Parker, 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) and Pfeiffer's Smith, 6-2, 6-2, before blanking the University of Mount Olive's Yaritza Santiago, 6-0, 6-0, wrapping up singles play.
In doubles action, Dirk and Tsuei paired and went 1-2 at the top of the card. They lost to a tandem of Division-II duos as Mount Olive's Tamara Gavasheli and Victoria Calle, 6-0, before Britta Buskqvist and Julie Jagiella, also of UMO, snuck by 7-5. They did finish the weekend with a win in doubles over Barton's Courtney-Kai Chin and Jaeda-Lee Daniel-Joseph, 6-4. Meanwhile, Goolsby and Merritt teamed up and went 1-1, losing to Pfeiffer's Gracie Spangler and Persichetti, 6-4, before beating UMO's Courtney Howell and Santiago, 6-1.
More tournament action is on deck for the Quakers who head to the Battle of Blue Ridge Tournament, hosted by Sweet Briar College on October 2.
#GoQuakes
