EMMITSBURG, Md. – The Duquesne women's tennis team played in its first fall competition in nearly two years when it competed at the Mountaineer Invitational hosted by Mount St. Mary's this past weekend.
 
Each school entered doubles pairs into the tournament.  Those pairs played a doubles match, and the individuals then faced each other to make a best-of-three format.
 
Three of the four tandems for the Dukes reached the quarterfinal round, but each team was eliminated from the championship bracket. The duo of Natasha Novak and Priyanka Mitta made a run through the consolation bracket and reached the consolation championship round. Novak and Mitta settled for the runner-up title after being defeated 3-0 by the team of Riya Mathur and Ardiana Barney of Mount St. Mary's.
 
"The women battled well in their first competition of the year, said Duquesne Director of Tennis Vanessa Steiner. "The fought through some first day nerves and came out the next two days, competing at a higher level. Meredith (Lee) showed her veteran status and went undefeated in singles play. The team is excited to build on this weekend and carry what they have learned to the Carnegie Mellon later this month!"
 
The Duquesne women's tennis team returns to the court when they travel to nearby Carnegie Mellon for the three-day Tartan Invitational on Friday, Sept. 24.