The Washington University women’s tennis team breezed through play at the first annual Lynn Imergoot Invitational on Sept. 17-19, reaching the final of all three singles and both doubles flights. The championship matches were not completed due to rain on Sunday.

McKendree University and Graceland University (both part of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) and Principia College failed to win a set against the Red and Green, going a combined 0-18 against the Bears.

“It was more working on techniques that we had during practice, making sure we were match tough,” head coach Kelly Stahlhuth said. “We got that out of it.”

Sophomore Kate Klein and junior Natalie Tingir dominated the A singles flight, dropping a combined three games in four sets to reach the final. In the closest match of the day, freshman Betsy Edershile defeated classmate and teammate Evelyn Qin in a super tiebreaker 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 to reach the B-singles final against senior Elise Sambol.

Senior Kalee Cassady and freshman Theresa Petraskova coasted to the C-singles final and sophomore Paige Madara and freshman Corinne Rauck reached the D-singles final without dropping a set.

In doubles, the pairing of Klein/Tingir and Qin/Edershile reached the A-flight final while Madara/Trimble and Sambol/Petraskova dominated the B flight to reach the final. In the only contested doubles match of the day for the Bears, Madara/Thimble battled past Cassady/Rauck 8-6 in the B-doubles semi-final.

The team plans to play all final-round matches by the end of next week since the intersquad matches provide some of the best practice for the Bears in the fall season.

“We push each other so well. We’re strong. We have a lot of depth, so I don’t want those matches to not happen,” Stahlhuth said.

The fall season is also helping the team bond and establish its identity. After relying on the same core of players for the past three seasons, the team has a new look due to players either graduating, leaving the team or spending the fall semester abroad. Featuring five returning players and six newcomers (one sophomore), the Bears will need to find the right lineup to reach the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

“I think the new girls are very eager, they’re very hungry, they’re very team oriented…at the end of the [fall] season, they’re going to discuss what goals we’re going to have for next spring…I don’t think they’re going to be sitting around a lot,” Stahlhuth said.

The tournament also allowed the University community to honor the life of a mainstay in the athletic department.

Formerly named the Washington University Invitational, the tournament, which also featured three men’s singles flights and two doubles flights, was renamed to honor the life of Lynn Imergoot and her 37 years of service at the University. She passed away at the age of 60 on July 24, 2009, in a single car crash in New York.

Imergoot began working at Wash. U. in 1973 as the director of women’s and co-ed intramurals and also served as coordinator for women’s athletics (1977-84), assistant athletic director (1984-2005), coach of the women’s tennis team (1975-2005), and most recently, associate director of club and intramural sports.

“It was Roger’s [Follmer, the coach of the men’s team] idea,” Stahlhuth said. “It was a nice memorial that a year later we could still think about her. She’s on all of our minds…The coaches that have played in the tournament before, it touched them.”

The Bears return to action at the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Regional Championships on Oct. 1-4. Wash. U. will host the tournament at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park and at the Tao Tennis Center on campus.