ST. PETER, Minn. — Megan Vandenberg (DePere, Wis.) kicked off the season in impressive fashion Friday afternoon, as the Saint Mary's University sophomore picked up three straight wins to open the Gustavus Fall Invitational.
 
Vandeberg was virtually unbeaten during the opening day of the three-day tournament, posting back-to-back-to-back straight-set victories. The Cardinal sophomore opened with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Gustavus' Maggie Nelson, and followed that up with a 6-3, 6-2 victory vs. Maggie Gibson of Hamline, and completed the day with a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) triumph over Cornell's Gabriella Ferro.
 
Kirsten Hoffman (Apple Valley, Minn.) opened tournament play with a pair of victories —6-2, 6-3 over Paige Seidal of UW-Whitewater and 7-6, 6-3 victory over Gustavus' Riley Abeyesekera. That however, would be as far as the Cardinal junior would get, as Margaret Zimmerman of St. Olaf handed Hoffmann a 6-0, 6-3 third-round setback.
 
Like Hoffmann, Lindsey Reinisch (Hastings, Minn.) opened with a straight-set win at the Gustie Invitational, cruising to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Loras' Kylie DeWees, only to fall to Grinnell's Anushka Joshi 7-6, 6-2.
 
Stacy Buss (Chicago, Ill.) and Ashley Syed (Lewisville, Texas) each lost their first-round matches by identical 6-4, 6-4 scores. Buss was eliminated from competition with an 8-6 setback to Gabi Rivera of Macalester, while Syed rebounded with an 8-0 win over Celia Peloquin of Concordia, only to fall in the second round of the consolation bracket, 8-0, to Ali Bublitz of UW-La Crosse.
 
Haley Jorgensen (Fallon, Nev.) dropped a three-set, 2-6, 6-0, 10-3 decision to Kristen Kalinka of Carthage, before beating Rachel Rosemore  of Bethany Lutheran (6-0, 6-2) and Rose Reinert of Concordia (8-0).
 
In doubles action, Hoffman and Buss earned an 8-2 win over Bethany Lutheran's Alicia Kranz-Taylor Nordhausen, while Jorgensen and Syed recorded an 8-2 victory and Reinisch and Vandenberg earned a bye into the second round.
 
Competition in the three-day event continues on Saturday.