LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Barry University women’s tennis had another special day at the Grizzly Open hosted by Georgia Gwinnett College as two Buccaneers advanced to the semifinals of the top singles draw.
In Flight A’s second round, Barry freshman Sonja Larsen defeated Emory’s Julie Fowler, 6-1, 6-0. Elisabeth Abanda beat Brenau’s Maria Perdomo, 6-3, 6-2. Kimmy Twelker beat Emory’s Bea Rosen, 6-1, 6-3. Ana Pain defeated Middle Georgia’s Anastasia Vasileva, 6-1, 6-3. Karina Goia lost to Nora Mindiyarova of Lewis, 6-4, 0-6, 10-5.
Larsen also blanked Emory’s Bridget Harding, 6-0, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. Abanda also moved into Sunday’s 8 a.m. semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over unattached Klara Dohnalova. Pain lost to Gwinnett’s Valeria Podda, 6-3, 6-2. Twelker lost to Mindiyarova, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.
In the B bracket, Barry’s Jasi Witherspoon defeated Brenau’s Natalia Bolivar, 6-4, 6-0, in the opening round. Witherspoon lost her next match to Kennesaw State’s Gabriela Bueno, 6-4, 5-7, 10-6.
In evening doubles action, Larsen and Goia won their match against West Georgia’s Sierra Watson and Sierra Brown, 8-0, to advance to the quarterfinals. Abanda and Witherspoon dropped their pairs match against Emory's Anna Fuhr and Katarina Su, 8-6.
Larsen and Goia moved into the semifinals with an 8-5 win over Mindiyarova and Ana Banic. The Bucs pair will play Fuhr and Su at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Twelker and Pain also won two late matches to advance to the semifinals. They blanked Florida Southern's Magda Riutort and Miroslava Mensikova, 8-0, in the quarters before dispatching Emory's Beatrice Rosen and Melissa Goodman, 8-2. Twelker and Pain will play Podda and Dohnalova in the other semifinal.