Seton Hall University
UC San Diego
Tennis Upended by UCSD, 6-3
3/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – The Seton Hall tennis team began their spring break trip to the “Golden State” by taking two of three doubles matches against UC-San Diego, but went on to struggle in singles competition, resulting in a 6-3 defeat.
UC-San Diego, an NCAA Division II affiliated institution, is the 27th-ranked team in the nation and the fifth-rated squad in the West region according to the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. At the D2 level, all positions are counted as a point, resulting in a deviation from the typical seven-point score-line in SHU matches.
Returning to the court as a team after a one-match hiatus, juniors Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) collected a third-straight victory in #1 doubles, doubling up Melissa Breisacher and Kyra Scott, 8-4.
Throughout the spring, Portela and Sher have continued to display the dominance that those familiar with the program have grown accustomed to. Already etched in the Seton Hall record book as the all-time doubles wins leaders, the pair of third-year Pirates have combined to post a 6-1 record in dual matches, with wins coming by at least a four-game margin.
Their lone loss, a hard-fought defeat in a match against a nationally-ranked Princeton team, came in a tiebreak.
Senior Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela) and Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) have also proven to be a potent doubles force in limited action as a team, matching Portela and Sher with three wins in their last three appearances. After falling in their first outing as partners, Cordero and Shoemaker went on to register two convincing victories during the team’s two-day trip to Annapolis, Md.
On Tuesday, Cordero and Shoemaker were once again triumphant from the #2 position, besting Paula Chou and Jacquelyn Davis, 9-7.
The Hall narrowly missed an opportunity to sweep doubles competition for what would have been the second time in three matches as Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) and Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) were edged, 8-5, by Melinda Chu and Tyra Vanooteghem.
As the action turned to the singles court, SHU dropped the first two matches to be decided in straight sets to fall behind in the team match. Sher helped the Pirates draw level with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Breisacher from the top position but the Tritons came out on top in the final three matches to come away with the team victory.
Two of those matches easily could have swayed the Pirates’ way as Shoemaker forced extra games in both sets and Cordero rallied from a first set loss to dominate the second, 6-1, before being edged in the decisive frame.
Sher has now won three of her last four individual matches and leads the team in both dual match wins (six) and combined victories (15) during the 2012-13 season.
The Pirates (1-7) have now lost three consecutive matches, but will have an opportunity to get back in the win column tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6 when they take on Vanguard University. Start-time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on the east coast.
Seton Hall 3, UC-San Diego 6*
Doubles
1. Portela/Sher (SHU) def. Breisacher/Scott (UCSD), 8-4
2. Cordero/Shoemaker (SHU) def. Chou/Davis (UCSD), 9-7
3. Chu/Vanooteghen (UCSD) def. Guryanova/Landert (SHU), 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Chloe Sher (SHU) def. Melissa Breisacher (UCSD), 6-4, 6-2
2. Kyra Scott (UCSD) def. Rocio Portela (SHU), 6-4 6-3
3. Paula Chou (UCSD) def. Alex Landert (SHU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Melinda Chu (UCSD) def. Madison Shoemaker (SHU), 7-5, 7-6 (5)
5. Tyra Vanooteghem (UCSD) def. Karina Cordero SHU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
6. Jacquelyn Davis (UCSD) def. Maria Rodriguez (SHU), 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6
*Division II scoring rules
