KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team was among five schools that took part in the Eagle Invitational, hosted by Carson-Newman University at Tyson Park.
The Pioneers competed against players from Carson-Newman, Lee, Charleston and Young Harris in five singles flights and three doubles flights during the two-day event.
Freshman Leonie Floeth was the flight C singles champion, beating sophomore Valentina Loretz in an all-Tusculum final, while freshman Elodie Baechler was runner-up in flight B singles.
Floeth did not lose a set in any of her three matches, beating Haarini Balakrishnan of Charleston 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, defeating Mirjana Ragastovac of Lee 6-4, 7-6 in the semifinals and then beating Loretz 6-3, 6-3 in the finals.
Loretz advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Barbara Balancho of Charleston in the quarterfinals, and a 7-5, 3-6, (10-6) win over Natasha Forrest of Carson-Newman in the semifinals.
Baechler earned a pair of wins to move into the flight B finals, beating Meghan Mallath of Young Harris 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and defeating Isabella Tiscornia of Charleston 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals. However, she was beaten by Hannah Price of Carson-Newman in the finals by a 6-4, 6-4 score.
Sophomore Paulina Loretz finished third in flight B, beating Sierra Donaldson of Lee 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, then winning by default over Tiscornia in the third-place match.
Sophomore Johanna Palacio placed fifth in flight D, coming back from an opening loss to defeat Julia Lif of Charleston 7-6, 6-1 and Lauren Trammell of Lee 6-3, 7-5. In flight A, senior Emilie Hansen claimed seventh place with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Summer Reeves of Carson-Newman.
In doubles, Hansen teamed with junior Rory Church to finish third in flight A. The duo beat Louise Ratiu and Joselyne Chapui of Young Harris 6-3 in a quarterfinal match, then beat the Carson-Newman duo of Price and Natsha Forrest 7-6 (7-3) to claim third.
In the B flight, Valentina Loretz and Palacio played Baechler and sophomore Stefanie Rossmeier in another all-Pioneer match, with Loretz and Palacio winning by a 7-5 score.
Tusculum will close its fall schedule with a dual match at North Greenville on Friday, Oct. 29 at noon.
