WILMINGTON, N.C. – Junior Kayla Schwenk of UNC Wilmington captured the women’s singles teal championship while freshman Ryan Ybarra lost his bid in the men’s “A” finals as the UNCW Collegiate Tennis Invitational closed Sunday at the Country Club of Landfall tennis center.

      Overall, the Seahawks fared well in the three-day event, which was presented by Mary Rice of Intracoastal Realty.

      Schwenk, from Coconut Creek, Fla., breezed to a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over N.C. State’s Neils Barringer in the women’s singles teal flight championship match. UNCW’s Lauren Isenhour and Lindsay Leblang were declared co-champions of the gold flight after both players won matches Sunday.

      Ybarra, a newcomer from Tyler, Texas, reached the championship round after going 3-0 in the round robin bracket. Elon’s Carlin Murray rode a big serve, however, to a 6-3, 6-4, decision over Ybarra in the men’s “A” flight finals early Sunday. N.C. State’s Akash Gujarati downed UNCW’s Alex Wetherell, 6-2, 6-1, in the “B” flight finals.

      Freshman Anton Nikolov of UNCW claimed the men’s singles “C” flight title, thumping Elon’s Chris Spalding, 6-3, 6-4.

      “What a way to end the event,” said Garrity. “We won 10 of our 11 matches today, highlighted by Kayla’s victory over a veteran N.C. State player.

      “Our entire team showed an amazing amount of poise for our opening tournament of the season. While I was certainly pleased with our success on the court, we will still look at what we need to build on going into a strong field at the University of Maryland tournament.

      “I would really like to thank the many volunteers who worked throughout the weekend at the Landfall event. Many teams said it was one of the best events they have competed in and that’s testimony to the hard work of the volunteers. I’m very pleased that we were able to give everyone such great tennis to watch over the weekend.

      “A special thank you to Mary Rice, our title sponsor, for her efforts and participation in all of the weekend’s events.”