Falcons complete busy weekend at Gopher Invitational
9/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Air Force completed three full days of competition at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday. The Falcons had two doubles teams wins flight and two singles players finish in the top 10 of their flights to highlight the final day.
Juniors Chloe Forlini and Jocelle Rudico won twice on Sunday to cap of 4-0 weekend. They beat Sydney Rider and Nathalie Joanlanne of Wisconsin, 6-2, and Ann-Christine Link and Mia Forgner of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 7-5. Lily Forlini and Elisa Nelson also won their flight Sunday, posting a 2-0 mark. They defeated Cristina Alvarez and Meghan Montgomerie of Northern Illinois, 6-2, and Emma Kranendonk and Milica Pavlovic of South Dakota, 7-6 (5).
Sophomore Sierra Stapper highlighted the team's top singles finish, as she defeated Morgan Brower of South Dakota State, 6-3, 6-1, to take third place in flight C. She finished 3-1 in singles during the tournament. Freshman Elizabeth Barnickel finished sixth in flight B singles after a 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11) loss to Kelsey Grambeau of Wisconsin. She completed the weekend with a 3-2 overall record.
Chloe Forlini finished 17th in flight A singles after a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Labina Petrovska of Milwaukee-Wisconsin. Forlini ended the weekend with a 5-1 record including five straight wins. Mary Meyers finished 12th in the A flight after a loss to Camila Vargas-Gomez of Minnesota, 6-2, 6-0.
Tracy Landram fell to Lexi Aranda of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 6-2, 6-2 to finish 24th in the A flight. Lily Forlini took 21st in the B Flight after a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Mimi Yunker of North Dakota. Freshman Meredith Laskey was 19th in Flight C following a 6-0, 6-0 win over Courtney Brackin of North Dakota. Elisa Nelson was 18th in flight C after a 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Sierra Halverson of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
"We won two flights in doubles today, each team saving match points to come from behind to win. That is pretty huge and something you like to see as a coach, Air Force head coach Kim Gidley said. "In singles, both Sierra Stappper and Chloe Forlini dominated their opponents the final day. Sierra placing third in the "C" flight and Chloe winning the back draw was great. Overall I was very proud of our fight and energy the last day. We had seven of nine players finish with an above .500 record for singles and we won at least one doubles flight every day."
Gopher Invitational Results
Sunday, Sept. 27
Doubles
Chloe Forlini / Jocelle Rudico
W vs. Rider/Joanlanne (Wisc.), 6-2
W vs. Link/Frogner (SIUE), 7-5
Elizabeth Barnickel/Meredith Laskey
L vs. Souza/Valasco (SDS), L 6-1
L vs. Budai/Buss (ISU), 7-5
L vs. Krutak/Hill (ISEU), 6-3
W vs. Alvarez/Montomerie (NIU), 6-2
W vs. Kranendonk/Pavlovic (USD), 7-6 (5)
Singles
Chloe Forlini - 17th (A flight)
W vs. Petrovski (UWM), 6-2, 6-0
Tracy Landram - 24th (A flight)
Vs. Aranda (SIEU), L 6-2, 6-2
Mary Meyers - 12th (A Flight)
L vs. Vargas (Minn.), 6-2, 6-0
Jocelle Rudico - 12th (B Flight)
L vs. Link (SIEU), 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (7)
Lily Forlini - 21st (B Flight)
W vs. Yunker, (UND), 6-3, 6-4
Elizabeth Barnickel 6th (B Flight)
L vs. Grambeau (Wisc.), 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11)
Meredith Laskey - 19th (C Flight)
W vs. Bracken (UND), 6-0, 6-0
Sierra Stapper - 3rd (C Flight)
W vs. Brower (SDS), 6-3, 6-1
Elisa Nelson - 18th (C flight)
L vs. Halverson (SIEU), 7-6 (4), 6-2
Players Mentioned
