Seton Hall University
NJIT
Players Mentioned
Pirates Top NJIT for Third-Straight Win
2/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 16, 2014
NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall tennis team extended its winning streak to three on Saturday afternoon, rallying to post four singles victories against NJIT and claim a 4-3 win on the road over the Highlanders.
The Pirates (3-1) dropped the doubles point for the first time this spring but came back to record four straight set victories - including a sweep of the top three positions - to emerge victorious.
The Highlanders moved out in front by claiming all three doubles matches, clinching the point with wins at the second and third spots. At #1, Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) battled all the way to a tiebreak before eventually falling to Ksenia Kuzmenko and Jana Luste, 8-7 (6).
Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) quickly pulled the Pirates level however, easing past Natalia Melibeu, 6-0, 6-2 in their #2 singles matchup. Liljekvist has now dropped only four games in a two-match winning streak - both of which have come at the top two positions - and the victory helped The Hall improve to 2-1 as a team at #2 so far this spring.
The next match to be completed was at #3 as Portela followed up a 6-2 first set win by outlasting Luste, 7-6, in the second to earn the win. Like Liljekvist, Portela has now posted two consecutive straight-set victories and has prevailed in four of her six spring matches overall.
NJIT evened the team score with a win at #4, but The Hall tallied the next two points to secure the team victory. Sher, who did not appear in singles last time out against Saint Peter's, rattled off a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kuzmenko at #1 to give the Pirates a lead they would not relinquish.
Seton Hall is now 3-1 at the top position through four dual matches, with Sher and Liljekvist combining to score three-straight wins at #1.
Junior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) increased her own winning-streak to three as well, powering her way to a match-clinching 6-4, 7-5 victory over Carolina Zanotta at #5. The Halfmoon Bay product now own five wins this spring and remains the team leader with 14 overall this season.
Seton Hall nearly made it five out of six singles victories as at #6, freshman Julie Martiny (Brussels, Belgium) took the first set from Hannelore MacDonald, 7-5. MacDonald rebounded to take the second, 7-5, and went on to squeak out an 11-9 win in the third.
The Pirates will head to Annapolis, Md. next weekend for two more matches beginning with a showdown with Navy on Friday, February 21 at 3:00 p.m. The following day, The Hall will get a shot at #53 DePaul in their first BIG EAST dual match of the year.
Seton Hall 4, NJIT 3
Doubles
#1 Kuzmenko/Luste (NJIT) def. Portela/Sher (SHU), 8-7 (6)
#2 Melibeu/Zanotta (NJIT) def. Julia Keenan/Liljekvist (SHU), 8-3
#3 Nathalie Habegger/MacDonald (NJIT) def. Martiny/Shoemaker (SHU), 8-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
#1 Chloe Sher (SHU) def. Ksenia Kuzmenko (NJIT), 6-4, 6-2
#2 Hannah Liljekvist (SHU) def. Natalia Melibeu (NJIT), 6-0, 6-2
#3 Rocio Portela (SHU) def. Jana Luste (NJIT), 6-2, 7-5
#4 Nathalie Habegger (NJIT) def. Julia Keenan (SHU), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
#5 Madison Shoemaker (SHU) def. Carolina Zanotta (NJIT), 6-4, 7-5
#6 Hannelore MacDonald (NJIT) def. Julie Martiny (SHU), 5-7, 7-5, 11-9
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6
