LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's tennis team got in a great deal of competition over two days at the Wallach Women's Invitational, as the Bobcats kicked off the 2021-22 season by hosting Bowdoin, Brandeis, Colby and Trinity in a uniquely formatted two day tournament.

Three rounds were played Saturday and two Sunday, each featuring a series of mini-matches pitting pairs of teammates, with both players playing a singles match, then all four players finishing off the round with a doubles match, resulting in an unofficial, three-point team score.

Some newcomers to the Bobcats enjoyed excellent beginnings to their college careers. First-year Elizabeth Frekko (Lake Forest, Ill.) won four out of five singles matches over two days along with one doubles match. On Saturday, Frekko defeated Trinity's Marta Drausnik 7-6, Brandeis's Jiayi Zhang 6-2 and first-year teammate Ava Lyon (Naples, Fla.) 7-6. On Sunday, Frekko defeated Trinity's Ella Baker 6-3, then teamed up with junior Joanna Atwater (Short Hills, N.J.) for a 6-4 doubles victory over Baker and Josephine Kimball in a 3-0 Bates win.

Before her match against Frekko on Saturday, Lyon defeated Colby's Caroline Kittle 7-6 and Trinity's Ashley Walker 6-1.

First-year Drew Williams (Guilford, Conn.) posted a pair of wins in singles and one in doubles. She defeated Brandeis's Summer Quinn 6-3 on Saturday and Colby's Olivia Scordo 6-4 on Sunday, and teamed with sophomore Salma Alsikafi (Lake Bluff, Ill.) for a 6-4 doubles win against Colby's Caroline Kittle and Katherine Daugherty.

Sophomore Ally Friedman (East Hampton, N.Y.) also had an impressive tournament, posting a 4-1 individual record in singles play and two doubles wins. On Saturday she scored a 6-4 singles win against Trinity's Kimball, a 6-0 win over Colby's Reimi Kusaka, a 6-2 win over Brandeis's Anastasia Sia and a 6-4 doubles win with Rozin over Brandeis's Sia and Nikita Salkar. In Sunday's action, Friedman defeated Bowdoin's Jamilah Karah 6-4 in Round 1 and teamed with senior Anna Rozin (Toronto, Ontario) to defeat Bowdoin's Kennedi Carter and Safar 6-4 in Round 2.

Atwater chipped in with two wins in singles and two more in doubles. She defeated Trinity's Isabella Hartman 7-6 on Saturday and defeated Trinity's Kimball 6-2 on Sunday, and won doubles matches with both Alsikafi and Frekko as teammates.

Also getting in plenty of action over two days were sophomore Syd Brown (Los Angeles, Calif.), senior Sydney Byrnes (Aix-en-Provence, France) and first-year Olivia Gidlow (Cleveland, Ohio).

The Bobcats will return to action Oct. 1-3 with the ITA New England Championships at Bowdoin.