The Quinnipiac women’s tennis team may not kick off its conference schedule until the spring, but the Bobcats are getting warmed up with a series of invitationals this fall. The team played its first invitational just down the road at Yale University, where the Bobcats faced off against Syracuse, Stony Brook and Yale during the weekend of September 18-19.

The matches played at these tournaments do not count towards the team’s record, but they do have an impact on each player’s individual record.

The tournaments are especially important to the freshmen as they provide their first collegiate experience. The Bobcats have two freshmen, Johanna Dorsey, of Wheeling, W. Va., and Amanda Petruzzi, of Bradenton, Fla.

“[The freshmen] are so used to playing junior tennis and individual matches, so to get them into team mentality is kind of tough,” senior co-captain Liz Axler, of Huntington, N.Y., said “These tournaments are good because they ease them in and they get a whole bunch of matches under their belt.”

The two freshmen played together in Flight B doubles, winning a close match versus Stony Brook before losing to Syracuse. In Flight A doubles, Axler teamed up with fellow senior co-captain Katherine Ehle, of Marshfield, MA, to win the consolation match. Ehle also won the Flight C singles consolation.

“I was pretty pleased, but we could have done better,” Ehle said of the team’s performance at the Yale Invitational. “Our freshmen got their first wins, which was good, so overall I was happy.”

In singles competition, each player competed against three different players. The coaches assigned each player to a flight, ranging from A to D, with the top players playing in Flight A. Sophomore Gabby Pasternack, of Glen Rock, N.J., played in the top slot for the Bobcats, losing all three matches.

Junior Tina Hoang, of Humble, Texas, also played in Flight A, winning one match against Stony Brook.

In her first collegiate singles matches, Dorsey went 1-2, losing twice to Yale and defeating Stony Brook in Flight B. Petruzzi, meanwhile, went 2-1 in Flight D, defeating players from Syracuse and Yale. Sophomore Amy Sarrazin, of Lewiston, Maine, picked up Quinnipiac’s only other singles victory over Yale. She also played in Flight D.

Overall, as a team, the Bobcats went 8-15 in singles competition and 3-5 in doubles matches. “The first tournament is always tough, but we all went out there and gave it our best,” Axler said. “We all worked hard and tried hard.”

The Bobcats had little time to rest after the Yale Invitational. Last weekend, the team hosted the eighth annual Quinnipiac Invitational. The tournament featured eight teams, including Big East opponents Rutgers, Seton Hall and the University of Connecticut.

Next weekend, Quinnipiac will head to New Hampshire as it continues to prepare for the defense of its Northeast Conference championship from last season.