Sept. 28, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - Playing her first tournament as a Terp, Ana Belzunce won, and won again, and again, rolling off five straight wins before falling 6-3, 6-2 to the University of Pennsylvania's Connie Hsu, the ITA's No. 4 incoming freshman, in the singles finals of the Cissie Leary Invite.

Belzunce raced through her first two matches, losing only three games in four sets as she easily defeated Delaware's Kelly Domino 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, and Drexel's Gozde Unkaya 6-0, 6-1 in the second. In fact, Belzunce did not drop a set until the finals. Penn's J. Yapp-Shing put up a tougher fight but Belzunce fought through to the round of eight 6-3, 6-4. She then dropped Cornell's Ryann Young 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Belzunce defeated Yulla Smirnova from Binghampton 6-1, 6-3 to face Hsu in the finals.

Maryland head coach Howard Joffe was impressed with his new star's performance over the weekend and her future as a Terp, "I'm quite certain that as Ana goes forward with her academic and tennis career at Maryland she will be a leading force in bringing the Terps back into the national rankings."

Maryland also sent junior Jordan Hansbrough to Philadelphia. Hansbrough won her first match over Delaware's Samantha Carnell 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 before falling to the tournament's No. 1 seed, Binghampton's Anna Edelman 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Joffe also praised the junior for her effort overall, "Jordan continues to improve steadily. She won a hard fought first round and then pushed the No. 1 seed into a 3 set struggle"

The Terps continue the fall season with two tournaments this weekend, in Los Angeles, Calif. at the Riviera All American and in Williamsburg, Va. USTA Future 10K.