The Stony Brook tennis team got off to a solid start to the new year with a doubles win in the annual Stony Brook Classic. The tournament was hosted by the Seawolves as they welcomed tennis programs such as Army, Navy and Radford.

The three-day tournament was highlighted by the win on Friday by junior Salome Mkervalidze and sophomore Aylin Mehter. After a first round bye, the pair won four matches to win the Flight B tournament over Erin Colton and Jamila Paul of Army,  8-2. On their road to victory was a semifinal win over Vollmer/ Saavedra of Army.

The other Stony Brook duo in Flight B, sophomore Nini Lagvilava and senior Gayatri Krishnan, almost made an all Stony Brook final but fell short against Colton and Paul, 8-3, in the semifinals. However, the pairing did beat Liden/Msmcdonald of NJIT in dominating fashion, leaving their opponent without a game en route to an 8-0 win.

But while the Flight B side of the classic proved successful for the Seawolves, Flight A was not as favorable.  Junior Katherine Hanson and Chloe Pike took a commanding lead in the opening round, 5-0, and eventually held on to win their match 8-4. However, this was the only win for the two doubles teams for Stony Brook in that flight. Hanson and Chloe fell in the second round to Army while junior Prerana Appineni and senior Fanny Charliquart were eliminated in the second round, 8-4, after their first round bye.

Day two was the singles portion of the weekend tournament, with no winners from Stony Brook. However, three Stony Brook players did advance to the semifinals.

Lagvilava lost a close, hard-fought game to Anne Houghton of Army, 9-7.Krishnan also advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion of Flight C, Margaret lliev, by the score of 8-6. In Flight D, Pike lost to Ferhatbegovic  in the semis, 8-5. Ferhatbegovic also turned out to be the eventual winner. In other singles action, Charliquart, Mkervalidze and Hanson all reached the quarterfinals in their respective flights.

After a successful weekend, Stony Brook tennis will head on to play in the Eastern Collegiate Tournament and the ITA Regionals before conference play begins. Last year, the team posted a 17-5 record, led by American East Rookie of the Year Lagvilava and First-team All-Conference Mehter. The 17 wins was a program record, and the two sophomores will now look to lead the team again in 2010.

Head coach Glassman said this upcoming season will be “exciting” but “busy”, and if the team fulfills expectations, it should be another banner season for the Seawolves.