The Emory University women's tennis team opened its 2022-23 season this past weekend competing at the Elon Fall Invitational at Elon University. The Eagles were one of 11 teams competing across the three-day tournament alongside Elon, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, James Madison, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, Richmond, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro and Virginia Tech.
Nine different Eagles competed in the singles portion of the invitational across eight different draws, highlighted by newcomers Iris Berman and Alyssa Margolin who reached the finals of their respective brackets. In the colonial draw, Berman collected straight victories over James Madison (7-5, 6-3) and Taylor Richert (6-0, 6-0) to advance to the finals while Margolin won in straight sets in the opening round against Norfolk State (6-0, 6-2) before besting an opponent from UNCA Asheville in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the finals. On Sunday, both Eagles faced off against players from the University of Richmond with Berman falling 6-3, 6-3 and Margolin dropping a three-set decision 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
In other singles action, freshman Izzy Antanavicius advanced to the third-place match in the Acorn field while classmate Emily Kantrovitz finished in fifth place in the Gold draw with her 7-5, 6-3 decision over her Elon counterpart on Sunday. Senior Alexa Goetz was another winner Sunday afternoon, taking down a foe from UNC Charlotte 6-4, 6-2 in the seventh-place match of the Owens draw.
In doubles action the tandem of Berman and Margolin led the way, reaching the finals of the Powell draw following wins over UNC Greensboro (8-6) and Richmond (8-5) before dropping an 8-5 verdict to ETSU in the finals on Saturday. In the Phoenix draw, senior Stephanie Shulman and junior Ilayda Baykan recorded a third place finish defeating UNC Greensboro 8-4 in the quarters and a team from NC A&T 9-7 in the third-place match. Junior Ana Cristina Perez and freshman Alessia Martinez also finished strong in the Phoenix draw, adding a 9-7 decision over Elon in the fifth-place match.
Next up for the Eagles will be the ITA South Regionals next weekend from September 23-25. Emory is set to host the regional for the first time since 2019 with matches to be played at the WoodPEC and SAAC courts.