Pirates Continue Fall Slate at West Point
9/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall tennis team is back on the road this weekend, continuing its fall slate at the West Point Invitational.
Last week, both senior captain Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) and freshman Anna Fajnorova (Bratislava, Slovakia) were out of action as The Hall opened 2015-16 over three days at the Quinnipiac Invitational. The three-day stretch featured singles victories by all six Pirates in action however - headlined by a B flight championship appearance from Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.).
Keenan's performance also highlighted Seton Hall's trip to the U.S. Military Academy a season ago as the senior played her way into the semifinals of the 3rd singles flight on the strength of three main draw wins.
Sophomore Luize Strike (Riga, Latvia) also picked up three wins in the season opener at Quinnipiac and returns to West Point where in just her second collegiate tournament; she recorded two victories to advance to the quarterfinals of the top singles flight.
Classmate Katie Kim (Honolulu, Hawaii) closed her opening weekend in similar fashion to Strike, rattling off a trio of victories in succession to claim a consolation title. Last September, Kim was one of seven Pirates who made it into the round of 16 in their respective flights as The Hall registered a total of 10 main draw singles victories.
Keenan, Strike and Kim were three of six team members in action at Quinnipiac as Thandy Kangwa (Fort Myers, Fla.), Isabell Klingert (Oberbalbach, Germany) and Marisa Quevedo (Tyler, Texas) earned main draw quarterfinal berths as well.
Klingert was forced to withdraw due to injury following her win but did pair with Kim to move into the B flight doubles semifinals prior to doing so. Kangwa and Strike teamed to make an appearance in the A flight quarterfinals as head coach Greg Wyzykowski begins to formulate new tandems early in the season.
Seton Hall will be one of 18 teams on the court at West Point this weekend, joining Akron, Albany, Binghamton, Bryant, UConn, Cornell, Fairleigh Dickinson Fordham, Lehigh, LIU, Marist, NJIT, Quinnipiac, St. Bonaventure and St. Peter's as well as the host Black Knights.
Competition will begin on Friday and carry on throughout the weekend. Follow @SHU_Tennis on Twitter for updates throughout the tournament.
