Courtesy of Delaware State Athletic Media Relations


Final Bracket


DOVER, Del., Oct. 4, 2021 -- The Delaware State women's tennis team claimed the championship of the three-day Loyola (Md.) Tennis Invitational in Baltimore this past weekend.

The Hornets defeated host Loyola, Johns Hopkins University, and Lafayette College for the title.

After a rough start on the first day of the tournament, the Hornets rallied together in the last two days to secure the title! It was an all Hornets Final in the main draw.

Delaware State's Iris Leder and doubles partner Daria Jula defeated fellow rookie teammates Baluck Deang and Kit Yi Kaye Au-Yeung 7-5 for the doubles point.

Then in the Singles, Leder faced off against Deang and Jula took on Au-Yeung. Au-Yeung managed to beat her teammate - Jula 6-4, 6-4, while Leder outscored Deang 6-2, 6-4.

In addition to success in the main draw, the Hornets were able to win the consolation draw, where freshmen Lucia Corte and Samara Guillory represented Delaware State in the consolation finals in both singles and doubles.

In doubles the freshman pair of Guillory/Corte fell short in a heartbreaking match, where a team from Lafayette College edged out the Hornets 5-7 in the final.

After the tough loss in the Doubles match, Guillory bounced back in her Singles,  and took the match 6-4, 2-0 where her opponent retired in the second set due to injury.  

Corte then followed suit in her deciding singles consolation final, taking the first set 6-1. However, after taking the first set convincingly, Corte battled back from 1-4 down in the second to win 7-6 (3) in the second set to take the match, the championship in the consolation draw, and the Invitational for the Hornets.

"I'm so proud of the entire team for the all-around effort to win this highly competitive tournament," head coach Pavel Zinchenko said. "We're off to a good start this season and our  hopes are high for the remainder of the fall schedule and a successful spring campaign."