RICHMOND, Va. -- East Carolina's women's tennis team won nine of its 10 matches on Saturday to claim victories over Norfolk State and George Mason in the VCU Invitational. It was the first action of the spring and first dual-match play for the 2002-03 Lady Pirates.

ECU opened the day with a 4-1 win over Norfolk State. The Lady Pirates won three of the four singles matches and claimed the lone doubles competition by default. Norfolk State had entered the match with a perfect 4-0 record as a team.

On Saturday afternoon, ECU returned to the courts for a 5-0 sweep of George Mason. Four of the five matches were decided in straight sets.

ECU's Raluca Baicu, Kirstin Buchanan, and Emily Kohl, playing at flights two, three, and four, respectively, all won both of their singles matches.

"I didn't feel like we played very well this morning against Norfolk State, but came out this afternoon and played much better against George Mason," Head Coach Tom Morris said. "Tomorrow, we'll come out and play East Tennessee State, which will be a very important match for us and should tell us a lot about where we're at as a team. We'll also face a nationally ranked VCU team tomorrow, which will be awfully difficult for us."

Sunday's play for the Lady Pirates will begin at 8 a.m. with the match against ETSU followed by a 1 p.m. start time for the VCU contest.

EAST CAROLINA 4, NORFOLK STATE 1
Feb. 1, 2003 VCU 4-1 Women's Tennis Invitational, Richmond, VA

Singles
1. Barbora Stejskalova (NSU) d. Lyndall Jordan (ECU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Raluca Baicu (ECU) d. Martina Vondrova (NSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Kirstin Buchanan d. Flaminia Miaone (NSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
4. Emily Kohl (ECU) d. Lizbeth Hoyos (NSU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles
1. Paulina Sierpinski/Christina Meilicke (ECU) d. Shenida Watkins/Klara Condlova (NSU) - default

EAST CAROLINA 5, GEORGE MASON 0
Feb. 1, 2003 VCU 4-1 Women's Tennis Invitational, Richmond, VA

Singles
1. Lyndall Jordan (ECU) d. Jenn Dektas (GMU) 3-6, 6-1 (10-5)
2. Raluca Baicu (ECU) d. Dinali DeSilva (GMU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Kirstin Buchanan (ECU) d. Katie Sloper (GMU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Emily Kohl (ECU) d. Kelly Melichar (GMU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles
1. Paulina Sierpinski/Christina Meilicke (ECU) d. Suzan Tugberk/Jill Collins (GMU) 6-0, 6-0