College Women’s Tennis – Elon’s Khoury, Berne Claim Singles Titles at Wake Forest Invitational

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Elon women’s tennis team concluded action in the Wake Forest Invitational today, Oct. 7, with wins in two singles brackets at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. Both Bryn Khoury and Briana Berne picked up victories for the Phoenix against tough competition.

“Our team is improving a lot and made some good strides in the tournament,” said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. “It was great to see Bryn (Khoury) win her flight. She beat some really good players and it’s nice to have her healthy and player very well. Bri (Berne) had an awesome tournament and fought through many good matches. With her commitment to improving and making strong strides it should help maker her senior year her very best.”

Khoury breezed to the finals of the B singles bracket after defeating Anna Gerbasi of East Tennessee, 6-3, 6-4, and Diana Bukajeva of Stetson, 6-4, 6-4. In the finals, Khoury grabbed another straight-set win as she took a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Manuela Velasquez of Louisville.

Berne won her first two matches of the G singles bracket over WVU’s Irina Toidze, 6-3, 6-2, and Dye Das of Navy, 6-4, 6-0. The senior advanced to the finals after a hard-fought victory over UNCG’s Jamie Grinberg, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Berne battled against Mayablue Stauffer-Macdowell from Stetson to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win for Elon’s second singles win of the day.

Viviana Stavreva took an easy 6-1, 6-1, victory over UNCG’s Amy Ellis in the first round of the E singles bracket before falling to Jen Miller of Stetson, 6-1, 6-2. The junior rebounded to claim a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2 win over Vivian Tsui of West Virginia.

Khoury and Barbora Lazarova paired up in the A doubles bracket and picked up two 8-4 victories over Kandinata and Salas of Richmond and Diana Bukajeva and Andrea Crespo of Stetson. The duo later fell to UNCG’s Nitooli Wilkins and Alex Whitehead, 8-0

After dropping their first match, 8-0, to Valasquez and Alex Tachovsky of Louisville, Maria Camara Ruiz and Taylor Casey played their way to two victories in the B doubles bracket. The team defeated Radford’s Christin Newman and Taylor Fay, 8-6, and Navy’s Erin Snook and Noelle Kaufman, 8-6.

After a bye in the first round of the C doubles bracket, Stavreva and Berne claimed a victory over Davidson’s Frizzi Bschorer and Tamara Hill, 8-1, before a tight 9-7 win against Lindsey Cable and Stauffer-MacDowell from Stetson. The upperclassmen fell in the final match to Wake Forest’s Xue Zhang and Karen Forman, 8-2.

The Phoenix will next play in the ITA Regionals on Thursday, Oct. 18 – Saturday, Oct. 20, back in Winston-Salem.