Sept. 13, 2002

West Point, N.Y. - Freshman Anne Cathrine Valle advanced to the quarterfinal round to lead the Stony Brook women's tennis team at the Eastern Collegiate Invitational at West Point on Friday.

Valle, playing in Flight 1 singles, defeated the tournament's No. 1 seed, Kim Barfuss of Seton Hall, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals. Valle dominated Rosi Bautovska of Adelphi in the first round, winning 6-0, 6-0.

Junior Patricia Gomez won in the first round of Flight 2, defeating Hallie Erickson of New Hampshire, 6-0, 6-4. However, Gomez then faced a tough opponent in No. 2 seed Stephanie Price of UMass. Gomez captured the first set, 6-1, but Price bounced back to win the next two sets for a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

In Flight 4 singles, junior Georgia Bushell won in straight sets in round one, defeating LIU's Krystina Bachner, 6-4, 6-0. She then went up against No. 2 seed Carissa Summerland of Rutgers. Like Gomez, Bushell won the first set for an early edge, but Summerland ended up winning, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

In Flight 3 singles, junior Karen Hansen fell Army's Alexis Murray, 7-5, 7-6.

In doubles action, the Seawolves fell in the first round but earned victories in the consolation bracket. In Flight 1, senior Carmie Zink and junior Lauren Conching lost a close one to Manhattan's team of James/Maguire, falling in the tiebreaker, 9-8. Zink and Conching then teamed for a 9-8 victory over Providence's team of Christensen/Stayer.

In Flight 2, freshman Ashley Ward teamed up with Army's Leah Gaunt. The St. John's tandem of Efst/Liantonio won 8-2, but Ward and Gaunt earned a victory in the consolation round. They shut out Rhode Island's Laflamme/Marino, 8-0, to advance in the consolation bracket.

Play at West Point continues tomorrow as Valle faces Milena Matijevic of Niagara in the quarterfinals at 8 a.m.