MOUNT VERNON – The Cornell's women's tennis team started off this season at home, hosting the Rams Invitational with three other teams over the weekend.
 
The Rams defeated Buena Vista (7-0), UW-Stout (6-1) and narrowly fell to Edgewood (4-3), Cornell finished off a successful opening weekend second in the four-team field..
 
Edgewood finished the invite 3-0, followed by Cornell at 2-1, UW-Stout 1-2 and Buena Vista 0-3.
 
The team's incoming freshmen Alyssa Flynn and Jenna Benkufsky started off their collegiate careers strong, going 4-2 and 5-1 individually respectively. The pair also notched three wins at No. 2 doubles during the weekend.
 
Sophomores Tansy Graves, Kaylee Hillyard and Mac Graves all enjoyed a perfect start to the season, with Tansy Graves going 5-0, Hillyard going 2-0 and Mac Graves going 6-0. Hillyard went on to win 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 in singles and finished the weekend with a 6-0 victory at No. 3 doubles with sophomore Isabella Wallin, not dropping a single game against Buena Vista.
 
Junior Audrey Small went 4-1 over the weekend, with a 2-0 record at the No. 3 doubles position with Wallin. Wallin finished with a 5-1 start to the season, including a comeback victory at No. 5 singles against UW-Stout, with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in the tiebreaker.
 
Coming up – The Rams (2-1) will play at home Saturday, Sept. 7, hosting the Purple and White Invite, where they welcome Wartburg, Coe and Grinnell. First serve is set for 10 a.m.