WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Skidmore College women's tennis team showed promise in its opening matches of the season, competing in the Lindsay Morehouse Invitational this past weekend.
 
Skidmore competed against three of the nation's best teams in Williams and Middlebury. This annual event is in honor of former Williams tennis player and team captain Lindsay Morehouse '00, who passed away in the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.
 
On Friday, Skidmore competed against the two teams in doubles. Skidmore was swept in the three doubles matches against the hosts, but rebounded to take two of three against Middlebury. A few months after the teams competed in the NCAA Regional Final, the Thoroughbreds exacted a small measure of revenge. Sophomore Risa Fukushige and freshman Dea Koiava defeated Middlebury's Ann Martin Skelly and Emily Bian 8-3. Senior Laura Swenson and junior Renee Karchere-Sun picked up the other victory, defeating Nora Dahl and Ruhi Kamdar 8-2.
 
Saturday saw the Thoroughbreds compete in singles action. Koiava defeated Chloe Henderson of Williams, who is ranked 33^rd in the nation as a singles player by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), by a 7-6 (5), 6-4 score. Fellow freshman Audrey SooHoo also picked up her first collegiate victory in singles, defeating Maxine Ng of Williams in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. Later in the afternoon, she picked up a second, defeating Kamdar in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Karchere-Sun also picked up a victory against a ranked opponent, as she was well on her way to victory against No. 42 Rachel Bush of Williams, leading 6-3, 4-1 before the match ended via retirement. Freshman Sophia Carlsson picked her first career win in straight sets, defeating fellow freshman Julia Pham of Williams 6-2, 6-4. Swenson also picked up a victory in her first singles match of the season, defeating Skelly 6-3, 6-3.
 
Sunday saw the Thoroughbreds return to doubles action, with three doubles victories. Koiava and fellow freshman Lily Feldman combined to defeat Bian and Skelly 6-4, freshman Sharon Decarli and sophomore Jackie Ahn beat Dahl/Kamdar by a 6-2 score, and Swenson and Karchere-Sun defeated Bian and Skelly 6-4.

After the tournament, Williams honored Swenson with the Lindsay Morehouse award, which acknowledged "a senior player who represents the ideals of sportsmanship, friendliness, character, fair play, and hard work that Lindsay represented."
 

 
"It was a very promising weekend for our young team," said head coach Curt Speerschneider. "This was the first college match for a lot of our players, so for many of them to notch that first win over an opponent from a perennial top-10 team was great. Every player and doubles team took several steps forward in development. It was an extremely productive weekend and we should be very confident going into our ITA regional tournament next weekend."
 
Skidmore will next prepare for the ITA Northeast Region Championships, held at William Smith College on Sept. 22-24.
 

Lindsay Morehouse Invitational final results
Friday:
Fukushige/Koiava lost to Bush/Henderson (Williams) 8-1
Feldman/Soohoo lost to Neveux/Ng (Williams) 8-5
Carlsson/Ahn lost to Pham/Zheng (Williams 8-6
Fukushige/Koiava defeated Skelly/Bian (Middlebury) 8-3
Karchere-Sun/Swenson defeated Dahl/Kamdar (Middlebury) 8-2
Decarli/Gal lost to Puccinelli/Gorman 8-3
 
 
Saturday:
Rd 1
Fukushige lost to Bush (Williams) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Koiava defeated Henderson (Williams) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Feldman lost to Neveux (Williams) 6-3, 6-4
Soohoo defeated Ng (Williams) 6-2, 4-6, 10-5
Carlsson defeated Pham (Williams) 6-2, 6-4
Ahn lost to Zheng (Williams) 6-1, 6-3
Swenson defeated Skelly (Middlebury) 6-3, 6-3
Decarli lost to Kamdar (Middlebury) 6-3, 6-2
Karchere-Sun lost to Bian (Middlebury) 6-1, 7-6 (10-8)
Gal lost to Dahl (Middlebury) 6-2, 6-0
 
Rd 2
Fukushige lost to Puccinelli (Middlebury) 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-1), 10-3
Koiava lost to Bian (Middlebury) 6-4, 3-6, 10-5
Feldman defeated Skelly (Middlebury) 6-0, 6-2
Soohoo defeated Kamdar (Middlebury) 6-1, 6-1
Carlsson lost to Gorman (Middlebury) 6-1, 6-4
Decarli lost to Dahl (Middlebury) 6-3, 6-3
Karchere-Sun defeated Bush 6-3, 4-1 ret.
Swenson lost to Henderson 6-1, 6-2
Ahn lost to Ng 6-1, 6-1
 
Sunday (results to do not count for individual ITA):
Fukushige/Soohoo lost to Ng/Zheng (Williams) 6-2
Feldman/Koiava defeated Bian/Skelly (Middlebury) 6-4
Carlsson/Gal lost to Neveax/Henderson (Williams) 6-0
Decarli/Ahn defeated Dahl/Kamdar (Middlebury) 6-2
Swenson/Karchere-Sun lost to Puccinelli/Gorman (Middlebury) 6-0
Fukushige/Koiava lost to Henderson/Ng (Williams) 7-6 (7-3)
Ahn/Carlsson lost to Neveax/Zheng (Williams) 6-3
Swenson/Karchere-Sun defeated Bian/Skelly (Middlebury) 6-4
Feldman/Soohoo lost to Puccinelli/Gorman (Middlebury) 6-4