Tennis Completes Rain-Soaked First Round of Eastern Championships
9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Inclement weather was the story of first day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Championships.
Both indoor and outdoor courts were used during the first round of singles play, allowing matches to be played under traditional best-of-three scoring rules. Rain prior to the second round of singles forced all play indoors where pro set scoring was employed. Pro set scoring is defined as a one set match where the first player or team to win at least eight games by a margin of two is victorious.
Sophomore Pui Wing Sher (Shui Wai, Hong Kong) won her first match in A flight singles play, cruising past Claudia Hidalgo of Bryant 6-0, 6-1. As play moved indoors, Sher fell in her second match 4-8 to Kellen Albeiston of Bowdin.
Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) received a bye in the first round of B flight singles matches. In the Round of 16, Portela would drop her only match of the day 5-8 to St. Bonaventure’s Marissa Brossard. The loss places Portela out of the main draw and into the consolation bracket. She is scheduled to face Salome Mkervalidze of Stony Brook in her first match on Saturday.
Elizabeth Verow (Barnt Green, England) was Seton Hall’s representative in C flight singles play. Verow rallied to defeat Tristany Leikem of Rhode Island in three sets after dropping the first set. Verow began her second round match with UMass’s Chantal Swiszcz outdoors. Play eventually moved indoors where Swiszcz would edge in the tiebreak Verow 9-8 (8-6).
Freshman Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) produced an impressive effort in her only D flight singles match of the day. After receiving a first round bye, Shoemaker dictated play on her way to an 8-1 triumph over Jenai Bilmoria of Lehigh. Shoemaker is scheduled to face Bryant’s May Vickers in quaterfinal play on Saturday.
Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela) and Courtney Kilarski (Roseville, Calif.) struggled to find a rhythm in their A flight doubles match. In their first match since securing the Quinnipiac Invitational doubles crown, Cordero/Kilarski fell to Laveito/Lewis of Bowdin in first round action 3-8. The loss puts the doubles pair in the consolation bracket where they will take on BIG EAST foes Ahlborn/Foley of Providence on Saturday.
The freshmen team of Maria Del Rosario Rodriguez (Bogotá, Colombia) and Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) was not in action on Friday as they received a first round bye in the B flight doubles bracket. They will square off against Chow/Hoeiner of Bowdin in their first match of the tournament.
Play resumes at the Eastern Intercollegiate Championships on Saturday morning. Tournament officials say matches are likely to be played indoors at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center on the campus of the United States Military Academy due to anticipated weather conditions.
