Seton Hall University
Connecticut
Players Mentioned
Tennis Clipped by Connecticut; 4-3
3/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 28, 2014
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The Seton Hall tennis team picked up three singles victories against Connecticut on Friday but came up just short of posting a fifth-straight win, dropping a 4-3 decision to the visiting Huskies.
Junior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) joined sophomores Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) and Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) in scoring for the Pirates (10-6) during singles play, but UConn was able to halt The Hall's four-match unbeaten streak after narrowly prevailing in doubles competition.
The Pirates entered the day with an 11-1 mark in doubles over the last four matches however the Huskies were able to put themselves in position to take the doubles point when Lucy Nutting and Srna Stosljevic combined to hand seniors Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) just their third dual match defeat of the season at #1.
Keenan and Shoemaker leveled proceedings by besting Emma Alderman and Maxie Weinberg, 8-5, for their fourth victory in five appearances as a team; leaving the doubles point to be decided at #3.
Previously unbeaten in four matches since being paired together, Liljekvist and Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) moved ahead 5-2, and eventually 6-3, in their third doubles matchup with Marie Gargiulo and Jennifer Learmonth but could not hang on to the advantage as the Huskies came back to secure the point with an 8-7 (5) win.
Down a point heading into singles competition, the Pirates aimed to repeat efforts against NJIT and Albany that saw the team bounce pack to record four individual wins to lift the team to victory.
Portela fell at #3 against Weinberg but Liljekvist pulled one back for The Hall when she yielded only two games in a convincing 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Alderman in second singles. The win was the ninth of the spring for Liljekvist and the sophomore has now added six victories during the dual match season, all of which have come in the first or second slots in the lineup.
In the top spot, Sher saw her run of eight consecutive victories stopped by Huskies' wins leader Srna Stosljevic (6-4, 6-2), putting UConn within one point clinching the match.
Keenan and Shoemaker would help engineer a Seton Hall rally, evening the team score at 3-3 by notching back-to-back wins at the fourth and fifth spots respectively. Matched up with Lucy Nutting, Keenan extended her personal unbeaten streak to nine by prevailing 6-4, 6-2. The sophomore has been a standout for the Pirates this season and is now tied for the team lead in both total victories (21) and dual match wins (11).
Shoemaker took the first set from Shea Flanagan, 6-2, but the UConn freshman came back to force a decisive frame with a 6-3 victory in the second. With the match on the line and the Pirates still looking to stave off defeat, Shoemaker took control of the third set, allowing Flanagan to earn only one game en route to a critical victory.
Shoemaker has 10 dual match wins to her credit, trailing Keenan and Sher by one for the most on the team and with 21 total triumphs in 2013-14, stands alongside Keenan for the top spot on the squad.
With the score knotted at 3-3, the team result came down to a matchup between sophomore Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) and Learmonth at #6. Making her first singles appearance in nearly two months, Landert performed impressively in her return and even jumped out to a one-set lead by taking the first, 6-3. She managed to win just three games the rest of the way though and Connecticut emerged victorious by a slim 4-3 margin.
The loss was just the second in the last nine outings for the Pirates who will enter April coming off a month in which they posted a 7-2 record; surpassing last year's win total of five in March alone.
Seton Hall will return to action next Friday, April 4 when they travel to the nation's capital to take on BIG EAST foe Georgetown. Start-time is set for 1:00 p.m.
Seton Hall 3, Connecticut 4
Doubles
#1. Nutting/Stosljevic (UConn) def. Portela/Sher (Seton Hall), 8-1
#2. Keenan/Shoemaker (Seton Hall) def. Alderman/Weinberg (UConn), 8-5
#3. Marie Gargiulo/Learmonth (UConn) def. Anna Guryanova/Liljekvist (Seton Hall), 8-7 (5)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
#1. Srna Stosljevic (UConn) def. Chloe Sher (Seton Hall), 6-4, 6-2
#2. Hannah Liljekvist (Seton Hall) def. Emma Alderman (UConn), 6-1, 6-1
#3. Maxie Weinberg (UConn) def. Rocio Portela (Seton Hall), 6-2, 6-0
#4. Julia Keenan (Seton Hall) def. Lucy Nutting (UConn), 6-4, 6-2
#5. Madison Shoemaker (Seton Hall) def. Shea Flanagan (UConn), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
#6. Jennifer Learmonth (UConn) def. Alex Landert (Seton Hall), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6
