Seton Hall University
vs. #7 Butler
Players Mentioned
Tennis Rallies to Upend Butler in Finale
4/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- With the Seton Hall tennis team one point away from defeat in its regular season finale, freshmen Katie Kim (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Marisa Quevedo (Tyler, Texas) combined with junior Isabell Klingert (Oberbalbach, Germany) to record three-straight singles victories and lift the Pirates to a season-ending 4-3 win over the Butler Bulldogs in the back draw of the 2015 BIG EAST Championship presented by New York Life.
The Hall (8-12) closes the campaign with a triumph over Butler (9-18) in the consolation draw of the conference championship for the second season in-a-row, scoring what was essentially an impressive road victory after the match was moved from a neutral site in Indianapolis to Butler's on-campus indoor facility.
The Bulldogs took a one-point advantage into singles play despite a 6-2 win for the freshman duo Kim and Quevedo over Grace Hyde and Bailey Padgett in the second doubles position but as they have been forced to many times this season, the Pirates rallied to erase the early deficit.
Junior Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) got SHU on the board by closing 2014-15 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Kylie Haviland at #1; completing her first full season atop the Seton Hall lineup with 12 dual match victories. With the result, Liljekvist also finishes the year with four dual match wins over conference foes and is now 3-1 all-time as an individual in two trips to the BIG EAST Championship.
Butler earned a point in two of the first three singles matches two be decided however as freshman Luize Strike (Riga, Latvia) was edged in three sets at #2 and junior Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) fell in third singles action, leaving the Bulldogs one-point away from their second win of the week in front of a home crowd.
Behind three of the four players completing their first season in a Pirate uniform however, head coach Greg Wyzykowski's squad rattled off three consecutive wins to come away as the victors.
Quevedo came up huge, coming from behind to down Angelina Qin in three sets after dropping the opening frame. Down one set, the Tyler, Texas product went on to claim the next two by a 6-4 score-line to keep The Hall in contention.
With only four players remaining on the court, the match was left to be decided at the fifth and sixth positions.
Kim cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 result over Michelle McFerran at #6, putting the finishing touches on what was an impressive close to her inaugural campaign. The win was the second for the Honolulu native in as many days after she recorded SHU's lone point in a quarterfinal loss to third-seeded St. John's and her third-straight against BIG EAST opposition overall.
Seton Hall's wins leader throughout the season, Klingert held off an attempted comeback from Rachel Sutton to seal a 6-2, 6-4 win and send the Pirates home with a victory in their final appearance of the spring.
Klingert wraps up her first year in blue & white with 22 singles victories overall, 14 of which came in a dual match format, and matched Kim for the team-high with five triumphs over BIG EAST opponents.
All six Pirates selected for the singles lineup in the BIG EAST Championship are eligible to return in 2015-16 while senior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) and classmate Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) each wrapped up their respective collegiate careers after helping the Pirates to 20 victories over their final two seasons.
#6 Seton Hall 4, #7 Butler 3
2015 BIG EAST Championship presented by New York Life
Consolation Round
Butler Bubble -- Indianapolis, Ind.
Singles
#1. Hannah Liljekvist (SHU) def. Kylie Haviland (BU) 6-4, 6-1
#2. Bailey Padgett (BU) def. Luize Strike (SHU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
#3. Konstantina Adami (BU) def. Julia Keenan (SHU) 6-3, 6-1
#4. Marisa Quevedo (SHU) def. Angelina Qin (BU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
#5. Isabell Klingert (SHU) def. Rachel Sutton (BU) 6-2, 6-4
#6. Katie Kim (SHU) def. Michelle McFerran (BU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5
Doubles
#1. Konstantina Adami/Kylie Haviland (BU) def. Julia Keenan/Hannah Liljekvist (SHU) 6-2
#2. Katie Kim/Marisa Quevedo (SHU) def. Grace Hyde/Bailey Padgett (BU) 6-2
#3. Michelle McFerran/Angelina Qin (BU) def. Isabell Klingert/Anna Guryanova (SHU) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
