Tennis Continues Play at Quinnipiac Invitational
9/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HAMDEN, Conn. - The Seton Hall tennis team began singles play at the Quinnipiac Invitational on Saturday. Sophomore Michelle Weerasinghe (Edina, Minn.) has advanced to the semifinals of the "C" bracket, and is the only Pirate in contention for a main draw tournament win. However, several players have advanced in the consolation brackets of their respective draws.
Weerasinghe beat Amanda Borletta of URI in a hard fought match (7-6, 7-6) to advance to the quarters. In that round, the sophomore topped Army's Maria Casaletto in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to advance to the semifinals.
Two SHU players moved to the quarterfinals in the "B" bracket before being ousted to the consolation rounds. Sophomore Courtney Kilarski (Roseville, Calif) topped Kristen Liu of Fairfield (6-3, 6-1), but fell (7-6, 6-2) in the quarters to Sacred Heart's Rebecca McMullin. Freshman Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela) won her first match against Elizabeth Harrington of Sacred Heart (6-3, 6-3) before dropping her quarterfinal against Army's Jessica Ahn (6-4, 6-1).
In the "A" bracket, sophomore Elizabeth Verow (Barnt Green, England) was bounced in the first round after a (6-0, 6-4) defeat to Quinnipiac's Mary Wilson, but rallied and played well in the consolation draw. Verow topped Fordham's Sarah Tremaine (8-5), and bested Darcy Demers of Sacred Heart (8-3) to advance to the finals. Unfortunately, Pauline Rys of Fairfield ended Verow's day with a 8-5 win.
Seniors Alexandra Harvey (Chatham, N.J.) and Liza Chu (Panama City, Panama) dropped their first round matches in the "D" bracket, but both regrouped to win in the consolation rounds. Harvey was beaten by Delaney Dowing of Sacred Heart (6-0, 6-1) before topping Jane Carroll of Fordham (8-2) to move into the semi's of that bracket. Chu lost a tough (6-3, 4-6, 10-4) match to Katie Moritz of UConn, but won (8-2) against Fordham's Brittany Russell and Fairfield's Haman Blau to advance to the finals.
Junior Belfin Sunbul (Izmir, Turkey) lost to URI's Kristen Leikem in the "A" bracket (6-3, 6-2), and also suffered a defeat in the consolation's to Rys (8-2).
Junior Slavina Kaplonska (Sofia, Bulgaria) dropped her "C" bracket match against Alyssa Ruiz of Fairfield (6-1, 6-0), and Julianne Kasinow of Sacred Heart (8-6) in the consolations.
The Pirates will conclude play at the Quinnipiac Invitational on Sunday, September 20.
