STORRS, Conn. – Fairfield University women's tennis completed its first matchups of the 2022-23 at the Quinnipiac Invitational, a three day, hidden duel format that saw freshman Sarah Liu lead the Stags with three total victories, earning a win against all three programs she faced during her collegiate debut this weekend.

"I felt like we battled and competed all weekend and came away with some solid results," said Head Coach Jeff Bricker Sunday. "This first weekend is about match play and working our way back into shape. We got better each day which is exactly what I was hoping for. It was great to see Lize-Alet and Sarah get their first wins as Stags as well! Now we have a couple of weeks to fine tune things before the Army Invite."

Fairfield dueled with UConn on Friday, where the competition was held this season, their first appearance of the campaign, as Bricker sent out seven singles players in addition to a usually three-tandem doubles round. In the top flight graduate transfer Lize-Alet Morkel, made her first appearance as a Stag, winning her debut in three sets over the Huskies' Alek Karamyshev, (3-6, 7-6 ^(10-5), 1-0 ^(10-6)).

On day two of the invitational, the Stags went toe-to-toe with Quinnipiac, the designated hosts for this weekend, playing eight singles matches and four doubles contests, pulling away with a total of five wins over their in-conference foe. It was a dominant showing for Sarah Liu in her first weekend with the squad, as the rookie captured a win in the No. 4 singles clash against the Bobcats No. 4, scoring a shutout, straight-set victory, 6-0, 6-0. Senior Francesca Karman notched her first victory of the season, rallying back from a 7-5 defeat in set one before taking the final two frames of the No. 6 singles flight, 7-5, 1-0^(10-5).

In the doubles round against Quinnipiac the Stags captured three of the four matchups, including Karman and Morkel in the No. 2 flight who won 6-3, followed by graduate Paulina Bakaite and senior Laina Campos in the No. 3 duel, winning by the same scoreline. The final pairing to emerge victorious on day two was the pairing of Liu and Tuttle in a fourth doubles match, shutting out their opponents 6-0.

Sunday saw Fairfield square off against Army West Point, the first of two meetings with the Golden Knights this month, as the Stags ­­rattled off pair of victories to close the weekend. In the No. 2 singles duel, junior Katarina Plumtree collected her first win of the season in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, and Liu nabbed her second singles victory of the weekend as she dropped just one game across her three wins, taking the No. 3 flight Sunday 6-0, 6-1.

Fairfield women's tennis will have nearly two weeks before they are back in action later this month, Sept. 23-25 for the Army Invitational in West Point, N.Y.

Day One Winners vs UConn

No. 1 Singles: Morkel def. Karamyshev (3-6, 7-6 ^(10-5), 1-0 ^(10-6))

Day Two Winners vs Quinnipiac

No. 4 Singles: Liu def. Bradley (6-0, 6-0)

No. 6 Singles: Karman def. Williams (5-7, 7-5, 1-0 ^(10-5))

No. 2 Doubles: Karman/Morkel def. Koscielski/Lisovyy (6-3)

No. 3 Doubles: Bakaite/Campos def. Bradley/Filibeyeti (6-3)

No. 4 Doubles: Liu/Tuttle def. Luehrman/Koo (6-0)

Day Three Winners vs Army West Point

No. 2 Singles: Plumtree def. Paige Herrzmons (6-2, 7-5)

No. 3 Singles: Liu def. Carolyn Ahn (6-0, 6-1)