SWEET BRIAR, Va. — The Sweet Briar tennis program opened the 2019-20 season at home placing two doubles pairs in Sunday's in the main draw final and three into semifinal action in the main singles draw at the inaugural Battle of the Blue Ridge at the Dennis Van Der Meer Tennis Center.
 
Day two of the Battle of the Blue Ridge will see first-years Allison Wandling (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Kate Kotany (Erd Hungary) faceoff with senior Emily Wandling and first-year Ruth de Souza (Marilia, Brazil) for the doubles main draw championship. Singles action on Sunday will feature Emily Wandling against Kotany and Allison Wandling battling Samantha Sepe of Brevard in main draw singles semifinal action.
 
Hosting its first home tournament since the fall of 2013, Sweet Briar opened the day with a pair of victories in the opening round of the main doubles draw. In a match-up of Old Dominion Athletic Conference foes, de Souza and senior Emily Wandling cruised to an 8-0 victory against Jada Lewis and Madison Rogers of Shenandoah.
 
A pair of first-years also picked up a convincing victory against Lauren Edwards and Brooke Simonson of Catholic, as Kotany and Allison Wandling earned an 8-2 victory.
 
The main draw doubles semifinal saw a pair of battles with both Sweet Briar duos earning 8-6 victories. Emily Wandling and de Souza fought for a tight victory over Samantha Sepe and Jen Cox of Brevard, while Kotany and Allison Wandling edged Javeesha Combs and Lily Kimble of Shenandoah.
 
The main singles draw opened with de Souza topping Colleen McLaughlin of Catholic 6-0, 6-1, while Allison Wandling matched de Souza's score in her victory over Brevard's Margaret Correll. Allison Wandling was the singles draw's No. 4 seed.
 
Kotany picked up her first collegiate singles victory with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Eleanor Flannery of Brevard. Emily Wandling, the No. 3 seed in the singles draw, earned a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win in the opening round against Lindsey Harford of Shenandoah.
 
Emily Wandling was strong in the quarterfinal, where she defeated Edwards 6-0, 6-1 to punch her ticket to the semifinals. The younger Wandling sister, Allison, topped No. 5 seed Simonson 6-4, 6-2.
 
The Vixens' third spot in the semifinal belonged to Kotany, who battled through a third set tiebreak against Combs to punch her ticket. Kotany dropped the opening set 1-6, before winning 6-2 in set two and 10-4 in the tiebreak.
 
The fourth quarterfinal match, which featured de Souza, saw Sepe battle from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8).
 
De Souza pulled double duty in doubles action, playing with sophomore Emily Wrenn (Franklin, Va.) in the pink draw of doubles. Wrenn and de Souza defeated Sarah Iocovozzi and Mary Perry of Brevard 8-3 in the opening round.
 
In the green singles draw, Wrenn fell 6-3, 6-2 to Jessica Garland of Brevard. Wrenn showed flashes of brilliance including a strong forehand winner down the sideline against Caitlin Bennett of Shenandoah, but Bennett managed to hold on in an 8-5 pro-set victory.
 
The inaugural Battle of the Blue Ridge will continue on Sunday, with a 9 a.m. first-serve on all six courts at the Dennis Van Der Meer Tennis Center.