From Sept. 13 to Sept. 15, the Bison women’s tennis team competed at the Navy Invitational. Overall, the weekend proved to be hard-fought, with the first day of competition leaving three pairs of doubles and five singles players in contention to win a championship.

By the conclusion of the invitational, first-year Dax Seidlin ’23 earned yet another individual title after collecting the singles title for the B bracket at the Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational. Seidlin’s weekend ended with a 6-0, 6-1 dominant win over an opponent from St. Bonaventure, and a 6-3, 6-4 win in the semifinals against Navy.

Other singles victories came from Rachel Carroll ’21, who won the Group D consolation bracket with an 8-2 victory over an opponent from Lehigh, and Sofia Ayuso ’21, who came in third in Group D singles after a hard-fought match against an opponent from Navy.

As for the doubles competition, Cayla Koch ’22 and Seidlin made the finals of the A bracket where they lost a hard-fought match against a team from Navy. In the B bracket, Paige Levy ’20 and Ayuso teamed up to make the semifinals, and despite a valiant effort, Daniela Bellini ’22 and Maddie Rippa ’23 fell 3-6 in the quarterfinals.

“Coach Cecchini is continuing to mix up the doubles teams as much as she can to find the best fits. I give a lot of credit to Koch and Seidlin for making it to the finals of the A flight doubles as a result”, said Jill Auteri ’20.

Next up for the women’s team is the Bucknell Invite, which will be held on Sept. 20.

On the men’s side, the Bison competed in the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational in Emmitsburg, Md. on Sept. 13 and Sept. 15. After strong showings in the Bucknell Invitational, the Orange and Blue claimed good results during their first away trip against players from Mercyhurst, Mount St. Mary’s, and Saint Francis.

Teaming up for doubles competition, Cooper Bradshaw ’22 and Ryan Jurist ’22 claimed a promising 6-1 victory over Mount St. Mary in the opening match. Individually, each Bison player claimed their own singles victory, bringing the overall record to 3-0.

Also competing in doubles was the freshmen duo Guillermo Torres ’23 and Per Astrom ’23, who unfortunately suffered a 2-6 loss. On the second day of competition, Astrom and Torres fought back to make it to the final of the consolation bracket. The pair would go on to capture the doubles title, overcoming Mount St. Mary’s 6-1.

“I was really looking forward to play this weekend. It’s the first time I’ve played in Maryland as well as the first time traveling together with the team. Although I started out feeling a little nervous, I felt better and better for each match I played,” Astrom said. 

The Bison will next compete at the Temple Invite in Philadelphia, Pa. on Sept. 20-22.