Although she never had played in a collegiate match, Reka Zsilinszka did not let her inexperience faze her, winning the singles Flight B championship at the William & Mary Invitiational. The freshman defeated William & Mary's Klaudyna Kasztelaniec Saturday with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 victory.
"It was a great start to her college career," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "She show that she's going to be tough to play anywhere in our line-up. People are going to be frustrated when they play her."
Zsilinszka commanded the field, giving up only eight games over the tournament. In her first two matches, she only gave up one game.
Also finding success on the tournament's final day were sophomore Amanda Granson and junior Jessi Robinson, who won the doubles Flight A consolation finals. Sophomore Elizabeth Plotkin and senior Tory Zawacki finished third in the Doubles Flight B bracket.
Despite their overall success, Ashworth said that the Blue Devils need to work on doubles play as they continue their season.
"If we can get our doubles up to par, we're going to be tough to beat," Ashworth said. "With the amount of depth we have with our singles, we need to find the right combos and get the doubles where they need to be."
In singles play, junior Melissa Mang was defeated by Katarina Zoricic of William & Mary in the Flight A consolation finals in straight sets. Zawacki also lost to Virginia's Lindsey Pereira in the fifth-place match of the singles Flight B.
Duke will compete next in the Riviera All-American Championships Sept. 29 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. After a strong first outing, the Blue Devils appear confident in the season that lay ahead of them.
"We're hard to play against as a team and individually," Mang said. "Because everyone is so talented, we can definitely win the ACCs and NCAAs. It's going to be hard but we can absolutely accomplish that. Based on our team, it's not farfetched at all."
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