The defending National Champions returned to court for the first time since capturing the title in May on Friday afternoon as members of the Emory University Women's Tennis team competed in day one of the Elon Fall Invitational at Elon University in North Carolina.

The Eagles are one of 10 teams competing at the three-day tournament and the only program from the Division III ranks. Other teams participating this weekend are Elon, Wake Forest, Winthrop, Liberty, Richmond, Radford, Appalachian State, UNC Greensboro, and NC Central.

Only two Eagles notched singles victories on Friday with captains Michelle Satterfield and Bridget Harding earning two-set wins in the Maroon flight. Satterfield knocked off Kristen Ward of Elon 6-4, 7-5 and Harding bested Natalie Sayer of Radford 6-1, 6-2.

The Eagles fared better in doubles play as all four doubles pairings picked up victories on the afternoon. In the Maroon flight, Harding and senior Katarina Su won via walkover against Melissa Machado and Gabi Wreder of Appalachian State. In the Powell flight, senior Melissa Goodman and freshman Elaine Vernoff defeated Emily Groenveld and Audrey Brown from Liberty, 8-1, and in the Phoenix flight, senior Michelle DeMeo and freshman Emma Perelman won a tight one, 8-6, over Karlie Pope and Claire Nguyen from Radford. Satterfield and sophomore Daniela Lopez closed things out on the afternoon, earning an 8-4 victory against Kristen Ward and Erica Braschi of Elon in the Gold flight.

Play continues tomorrow at 9am with the semifinal and consolation round doubles matches with the quarterfinals, semifinals as well as consolation rounds in singles to follow. Updated brackets and flights can be found here and will be updated throughout the day on Saturday.