The Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s tennis team started its season on the right foot. The ladies traveled to Yale to participate in the Yale Invitational Tennis Tournament. The tournament featured both singles and doubles matches. In Flight A singles action, senior co-captain Kim Piazza took her first match 6-2, 6-2. She defeated Emilie Akerbrant, who was representing Seton Hall. However, she fell in her second match 7-5, 6-2 to Yale’s Steph White.
Freshman Gabby Pasternak looked impressive in her first varsity victory. It was a hard fought, three set match against Yale’s Karlyn Martin that finished 7-6, 4-6, 10-7. In the next round, she faltered losing to Seton Hall’s Kim Barfus 6-4, 6-3.
The Bobcats also played tough in their Flight B singles matches. Senior co-captain Danielle Rautenberg defeated Seton Hall’s Laurel Zamont 6-0, 7-6. She played well in the semi-finals, but was not able to pull out the victory against Ashley Martin, who won the match 6-4, 6-2.
Junior Liz Axler was not able to get much going against Yale’s Christine Alford, as she was defeated 6-2, 6-1. She then suffered another tough loss in the consolation round. Christine Laurel from the University of Massachusetts defeated Axler in two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
Senior Heather Rahm lost her first match to Elizabeth Conyer of the University of Massachusetts. Conyer took the win in a 6-2, 6-0 match. However, Rahm recovered quickly as she defeated Seton Hall’s Mai-Louisse Jogi 6-1, 6-3.
Junior Kat Ehle suffered an early loss to Susan Hyams of UMass. Their match finished 6-3, 7-5. In the consolation round, Ehle endured another tough match. She was defeated by Seton Hall’s Catalina Izava, 6-4, 6-0.
In Flight D action, freshman Danielle Rodriguez lost her first match 6-1, 6-3 to Veronika Gerka of Seton Hall. She responded by defeating UMass’s Sady Sandquist 6-2, 6-1, on her way to her first collegiate victory.
Freshman Amy Sarrazin also won her first varsity match at the tournament. She defeated Seton Hall’s Laura Stagnola 6-4, 6-0.
In Doubles action, the Bobcats experienced some adversity. Heather Rahm and Danielle Rautenberg suffered an 8-5 defeat to Ashley and Caitlin Martin. Gabby Pasternak and Kim Piazza lost to Seton Hall’s Catalina Izava and Kim Barfus.
Danielle Rodriguez and Amy Sarrazin also lost their doubles match. They were defeated by the team of Mai-Louisse Jogi and Laurel Zamont. There was a bright spot though, as Liz Axler and Kat Ehle won their match against Amy Kim
and Juliet Vartikov by default.
In the second day of action, the Bobcats looked respectable. Axler and Ehle defeated Gerka and Laura Spagnuolo. This victory allowed them to advance to the finals of the Flight B doubles bracket. The duo played well, but lost in the finals.
In an extremely uncommon match-up, teammates Piazza and Pasternak dueled. Piazza pulled out the victory on her way to finishing third in the Flight A singles bracket. Pasternak finished right behind her, claiming fourth.
Danielle Rodriguez played well again, as she defeated Seton Hall’s Spagnuolo 8-4. With this victory, Rodriguez claimed the victory of the consolation bracket in Flight D singles. Rautenberg looked impressive as she defeated Seton Hall’s Vivian Figueroa 9-8. Rahm also played well as she reached the consolation final of the Flight C bracket. She was defeated in the final by Seton Hall’s Katalina Izeza.
Overall, the Bobcats played hard in their opening weekend. There were some bright spots, but there was also room for improvement. This was expected though, as the tournament featured the first matches of the season. The Bobcats face their next test at the Binghamton Invitational, September 20-21.
