Seton Hall University
Navy Tournament
WTEN Brings 3 Titles Home from Navy
9/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ANNAPOLIS, MD. - Play at the Bill and Sandra Moore Invitational hosted by the United States Naval Academy concluded with on Sunday as final matches were played in four singles flights and two doubles champions were decided.
With their play on the first two days of the tournament, the Seton Hall tennis team earned a spot in four of the six main draw titles matches, as well as one consolation championship tilt.
Juniors Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) bounced back from a misstep in doubles competition at the Quinnipiac Invitational to emerge from Annapolis with the distinction of the tournament's top pair.
After stringing together three wins to get to the A flight final, Portela and Sher bested the Howard University tandem of Talia Johnson and Katelyn Stokes, 8-3, to win the team's first doubles crown of the year.
Sher and Stokes also met on the singles court, as the two were matched up in the A flight singles final as well. In the end, it was the #1-seeded Stokes who came out on top in the individual clash by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
Entering the day, freshman Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) needed just one win to capture her second C flight title in as many appearances for the Pirates. Undaunted by the stage, Keenan quickly put away Towson senior Andrea Samlin (7-5, 6-1) to take the championship and extend her win streak to seven matches to start her career. Through those seven matches, Keenan has yet to drop a set.
SHU's second singles championship of the day came courtesy of a superb effort from sophomore Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia). Faced with a matchup against Navy's Cassandra Fisbeck on her home court, Guryanova rose to the occasion and put together a 7-6 (4), 6-2 straight-set victory to secure her first career title singles title.
Through two tournaments, the Pirates have now won five out of a possible eight main draw singles titles.
The accolades did not stop there however as one Pirate had posted two straight wins to stand as one of two players remaining in the B flight back draw. Despite dropping a hard fought match to Austin Lavalii of Nova Southeastern in the B flight Round-of-16 on Friday, freshman Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) rebounded to defeat two of Lavalii's teammates on Saturday to advance to the consolation final. Up against her fourth consecutive opponent from NSU, Landert delivered another quality performance as she stifled Charlotte Cote, closing her weekend with an 8-2 triumph.
"The competition in the field this weekend was stronger than last week at Quinnipiac so I was pleased with how we competed," said head coach Greg Wyzykowski."Julia [Keenan] is off to a great start for us as a rookie and I was happy to see Anna [Guryanova] get her first title after all the hard work she has put in. Even though she came up a little short, the way Chloe [Sher] fought today was encouraging as well. Hopefully with their win, Chloe and Rocio [Portela] are on their way to regaining their spring form. We still have some improving to do as a team but the important thing is we're getting better every time out."
After a week off from competition, the Pirates will return to action when they take on some of the best players in the region at the USTA Collegiate Invitational. The tournament will be held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. from Friday, October 6 through Sunday October 8.
