WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – North Carolina Central's women's tennis team saw multiple Eagles advance through several draws at the William & Mary Tribe Invitational on Sept. 12-13, marking the team's first action of the Fall season.

The Eagles competed across six singles draws and three doubles draws against opponents from William & Mary, Penn, Richmond, Old Dominion and familiar conference foe Morgan State.

Gabriela Mejia Arenas and Journee Henderson advanced to the finals of the Griffin Doubles Draw after defeating duos from Penn and William & Mary, with the latter match ending in a hard-fought 7-6 victory. The pair then faced another William & Mary duo, Tilda Larsson and Medha Chandana, before falling 6-2.

Sara Barbaric and Mariana Zottoli also advanced to the second round of the Colonial Doubles Draw with a 6-2 win over Penn's Joleen Saw and Lara Stojanovski. Valentina de Aquino advanced past the first round in singles, earning a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Larsson in the Grey Draw.

Other notable singles victories included Barbaric's 10-point tiebreak win over Morgan State's Amira Bergaoui in the Gold Draw and Carlota Rodriguez Sanchez's 6-2, 6-2 victory in the Black Draw. Rodriguez Sanchez and de Aquino also teamed up to defeat the Bears in doubles before facing teammates Randy Rakotoarilala and Patricia Palencia in the Coastal Doubles Draw. Rodriguez Sanchez and de Aquino prevailed, 7-5.

Next up, NCCU will have an Eagle competing in the ITA All-American Championships, as Rakotoarilala represents the Maroon and Gray from Sept. 19-27 at Cary Tennis Park.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.