HOUSTON, Texas – The McNeese women's tennis team had a strong outing over the weekend at the Rice Invite with players posting wins against some of the top programs in the nation.
 
The three-day event featured numerous prestigious teams including the host Rice, Alabama, Auburn, Denver, Houston, UT-Arlington, and Tulane.
 
The Cowgirls performed well in the tournament with the highlight coming from doubles action where Junior Sarah Jurakova and sophomore Giovanna Fioretti upset Alabama in the semifinals and went on to finish runner up
 
Sophomore Charoline Erlandsson, who was excellent on the court during the weekend action for the Cowgirls, gave a great performance as she finished undefeated in both singles and doubles competition. Erlandsson competed in the Singles Flight 6A and got started with a tough three-set win against UTSA on Friday. After that match, the Stockholm native picked up two convincing two-set wins against two opponents of Southern Mississippi to gain the tournament crown. In doubles play, she teamed up with Kateryna Avram of Northwestern State to secure the Flight 3 doubles championship and finish the weekend on a perfect note.
 
Jurakova and Fioretti each faced tough opponents in their opening rounds in flight 3A and 1B, respectively. Jurakova suffered a hard fought loss to Alabama while Fioretti fell to Texas in two tie-breaker decisions. However, the combo came back strong and picked up two wins in doubles action, including the win over Alabama and a runner-up finish in the doubles flight 1.
 
McNeese continues fall action as it prepares for another tough tournament at UL-Lafayette where the Cowgirls will participate in the Ragin Cajuns Fall Classic September 30^th to October 1^st.