Seton Hall University
Point Loma Nazarene
Tennis Powers Past Point Loma, 8-1
3/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – As the mist was still rolling off the ocean surrounding the scenic Point Loma Nazarene University campus, the Seton Hall tennis team turned in its second dominant performance in a matter of hours, wrapping up a three-match swing in San Diego with a convincing 8-1 victory over the Sea Lions on Thursday.
With the win, the Pirates improved to 3-7 through the non-conference portion of their schedule and completed the west coast trip with a 2-1 team record.
Against PLNU, the 31st-ranked Division II team in the nation, the match was again played on a nine-point system. In another deviation from the norm, singles competition was held before doubles but the change in order did little to deter a charging Pirates’ squad.
The Hall came out and swept all six singles matches, clinching the team victory before doubles even began. It was the first time that SHU has posted an undefeated singles record in a dual match since a 7-0 blanking of Manhattan in February 2012.
Playing as an individual for the first time this season, sophomore Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) wasted little time putting the Pirates on the board, breezing past PLNU’s Kirsty Mountain, 6-2, 6-2 in a matchup at #6. With the result, she became the sixth member of the team to reach the 10-combined wins mark in 2012-13, despite only playing 14 singles matches to this point in the year.
Dating back to her freshman campaign, Guryanova has now won 70 percent of the matches where she was penciled in at #6 in the lineup.
Senior Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela) scored next for Seton Hall, downing Wileen Chiu in three sets from the fourth slot. It was the second win in as many days for Cordero, who has also won three of her last four. The senior captain has displayed the ability to raise her game to the competition, winning two-of-three matches when inserted in the #4 position in the lineup.
Another three-set victory at #5 followed for The Hall, as sophomore Maria Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia) rebounded from a first set loss to outlast Kiersten Steinhauer, 5-7, 7-5, 10-2. So far this season, Rodriguez ranks third on the team with five wins in dual match play and is tied with classmate Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) for the second-most combined wins with 14.
Shoemaker was also in action on the day, besting Point Loma’s Preethika Venugopal, 7-6 (3), 6-2 at #3 to complete the singles sweep. Shoemaker has been the Pirates’ second-most prolific singles player in dual matches, scoring on six different occasions. Entering conference play, she needs just two wins to match her head-to-head total from 2011-12.
In between the victories for Rodriguez and Shoemaker, the squad also picked up points at the top-two positions. SHU’s wins leader Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) made quick work of Maika Adair, playing her way to a 6-2, 6-4 decision. Adair, who was fresh off a win at #1 against Villanova, is the 11th opponent who has fallen in straight sets to Sher this year. The Hong Kong native now has a team-high 16 combined wins on the year and is now tied for sixth on the all-time wins list with 56 for her career.
Freshman Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) also won comfortably, despite stepping up to #2 in the lineup for just the second time this season. Landert overpowered Hope Penner in the first set, winning 6-2 before putting away the match with a 7-5 showing in the second. This is the first time that Landert has registered back-to-back dual match victories in her young career and she currently sits fourth with an impressive 12 wins thus far in her debut campaign.
With the team result no longer in question, the Pirates went on to capture two of three doubles matches, completing the three-match trip with a combined 7-2 record in doubles. Sher and Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) led the way yet again from the #1 position, recording their fifth-straight victory overall.
“Our team competed very well this week,” said head coach Greg Wyzykowski. “We’re starting to get healthy and hitting our stride on the court just in time for BIG EAST play.”
The Pirates will close the regular season with seven consecutive matches against conference opponents, the first of which will be at Syracuse on Saturday, March 23. The Pirates will remain in upstate New York following the match to take on Providence the following day. Both start-times are currently set for 10:00 a.m.
Last season, SHU posted three league wins and qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2006-07. In 2013, all teams will compete at the conference championship to be held in Tampa, Fla. from April 18-21.
Seton Hall 8, Point Loma 1
Singles
1. Chloe Sher (SHU) def. Maika Adair (PLNU), 6-2, 6-4
2. Alex Landert (SHU) def. Hope Penner (PLNU), 6-2, 7-5
3. Madison Shoemaker (SHU) def. Preethika Venugopal (PLNU), 7-6 (3), 6-2
4. Karina Cordero (SHU) def. Wileen Chiu (PLNU), 6-2, 4-6, 10-2
5. Maria Rodriguez (SHU) def. Kiersten Steinhauer (PLNU), 5-7, 7-5, 10-4
6. Anna Guryanova (SHU) def. Kirsty Mountain (PLNU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5, 2, 1, 3
Doubles
1. Sher/Rocio Portela (SHU) def. Penner/Venugopal (PLNU), 8-4
2. Adair/Sharon Reibstein (PLNU) def. Shoemaker/Cordero (SHU), 8-5
3. Landert/Guryanova (SHU) def. Chiu/Steinhauer (PLNU), 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
