Espana to play for Flight D title at Hokie Fall Invite

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

BLACKSBURG, Va. (Sept. 29, 2012) – Junior newcomer Sofia Espana (Mexico City, Mexico) continued her impressive fall season, winning two matches and advancing to the Flight D final on Saturday at Virginia Tech’s Hokie Fall Invite.

Espana began the day in the quarterfinals, defeating Radford’s Taylor Fay, 6-2, 6-4, before earning her spot in Sunday’s final with a, 6-3, 6-4, takedown of UNC Wilmington’s Hamilton Lovett in the semis. ETSU’s other contender in the main draws, Antonia Kolovou (Larisa, Greece), advanced to the top flight’s semifinals, but was eliminated by Armstrong Atlantic’s Barbora Krtickova, 6-1, 6-1.

After falling from the Flight B main draw on Friday, Salma Dahbi (Marrakech, Morocco) earned some redemption in the consolation matches with two day-two victories. Dahbi and Espana also earned a Flight B doubles consolation win against Winthrop’s Amrani and Garcia, while Kolovou and Larn McShane (Hobart Tasmania, Australia) took out a Blue Raider duo in the Flight A consolations.

“It was a solid day of tennis,” ETSU assistant coach Travis Sandlant said. “I thought Salma and Antonia struck the ball well and clean today. It is also good to see Sofia advance to her second straight final. She is playing to her strengths and continues to grow as a player.”

Espana made it to the singles final last weekend at the USC Upstate Fall Classic, but did not contest it against another Buc in Lyn Yee Choo (Kuching, Malaysia). Espana’s Flight D final will come against MTSU’s Irina Constantinide on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

Complete ETSU Results

Hokie Fall Invite – Day 2

Singles – Quarterfinals and Semifinals

- Flight A

Antonia Kolovou def. Angie Sekely (UNCW) 6-3, 6-3

Barbora Krtickova (AA) def. Antonia Kolovou 6-1, 6-1

- Flight D

Sofia Espana def. Taylor Fay (Radford) 6-2, 6-4

Soifa Espana def. Hamilton Lovett (UNCW) 6-3, 6-4

Singles – Consolation

- Flight B

Salma Dahbi def. Isabel Aldunate (UMBC) 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)

Salma Dahbi def. Rebekah Jenkins (Liberty) 6-3, 6-2

- Flight C

Valerie Thong (Liberty) def. Larn McShane 6-1, 6-1

Nayara Moraes (MTSU) def. Larn McShane 6-2, 6-0

Doubles – Consolation

- Flight A

Kolovou/McShane def. Nomoto/Nagayama (MTSU) 9-8 (7-3)

- Flight B

Dahbi/Espana def. Amrani/Garcia (Winthrop) 9-7

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For more information on ETSU women’s tennis, please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s tennis links.