Players Mentioned
Pirates Square Off with Rutgers Wed.
2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall tennis team will continue a stretch of five matches in nine days on Wednesday, heading to the East Brunswick Racquet Club with the aim of turning the tide in a longstanding series with rival Rutgers.
The Hall (1-3) and the Scarlet Knights (3-2) last met in April with RU coming away 6-1 winners; extending its unbeaten streak in the series to seven.
The Pirates, who are coming off a weekend in which they posted an 8-4 singles record on the road, boast an improved lineup that is headlined by newly-named BIG EAST Player of the Week Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) and were just one match away from scoring the doubles point in the most recent matchup with Rutgers.
Both squads saw a decorated senior class complete their collegiate careers last spring but Wednesday's matinee will serve as an early season test for both sides.
RU is off to another strong start in its inaugural Big Ten campaign; recording victories over two other in-state foes in Fairleigh Dickinson and NJIT while dropping just one total point in the two matches. Against Army - the only common opponent for The Hall and Rutgers to this point in the year - the Scarlet Knights came away with a 6-1 victory.
The Black Knights previously topped SHU in the spring opener.
Both Temple and Princeton swept doubles competition in decisive wins over Rutgers however and if the Pirates can break through on the doubles court for the first time this season, RU will be forced to rally against a young SHU lineup has proven an ability to put singles points on the board.
Asked to step up to the #1 position the last time out against Navy, senior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) and freshman Katie Kim (Honolulu, Hawaii) trounced the opposing duo of Sam Droop and Katie Porter, 8-1. Kim and Shoemaker will enter Wednesday as the owners of a modest two-match winning streak after adding a win at #2 in a Seton Hall victory over Longwood in Annapolis.
Liljekvist and junior Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) recorded a first doubles triumph against Stony Brook, meaning The Hall has been within one win of clinching the doubles point in each of its last three matches.
The tandem of Gina Li and Mariam Zein leads a Rutgers doubles contingent that has posted a perfect 8-0 mark in the squad's three victories. A pair of experienced juniors, Li and Zein were rated as the #4 duo in the Northeast region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in January.
On the singles court, Liljekvist was one of three Pirates to record multiple wins last weekend, joining freshman Luize Strike (Riga, Latvia) and classmate Isabell Klingert (Oberbalbach, Germany).
Klingert has posted a team-best six singles wins in her first four spring appearances with The Hall, three of which have come at #6 in dual match action. No Seton Hall player amassed more than three victories at #6 in all of 2013-14.
Newcomers Kim and Marisa Quevedo (Tyler, Texas) also hold individual wins this spring and are part of an incoming group that has elevated the team's overall level of play.
Start-time between the Pirates and Scarlet Knights is slated for 1:00 p.m. SHU will then take on NJIT on Friday, February 27 before hosting Binghamton the following day.
