Seton Hall University
Quinnipiac University Tournament
WTEN Takes Three Titles at QU
9/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HAMDEN, CONN. – Sunday was championship day at the 2012 Quinnipiac Invitational as the day’s matches marked the culmination of the three-day event.
On the strength of their performance on Saturday, the Seton Hall tennis team opened the day with seven players alive in the main draw as play in four flights commenced with semifinal matches.
Junior Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) was the Pirates’ lone representative in the A flight, advancing to the semis after winning her lone match the day before. In her first appearance of the day, Sher stifled Providence freshman Alana Prinos, moving on to the finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
In the final, the Hong Kong native drew Marisela Aviles-Duron, her third straight opponent from the Friars’ squad. Sher took the first set by a 6-2 margin but fell in the second 3-6 forcing the match to a tiebreak. With the title on the line, she doubled up Aviles-Duron, 10-5, to capture her second A flight title at QU in the last three years.
Seton Hall began play with two team members remaining in the semifinals in all three of the remaining flights. Senior Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela) and freshman Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.), each sat one win away from the B flight championship match after posting three wins between them on the first day of singles.
Both Cordero and Landert were up against opponents from UConn to start the day.
Facing Maxene Weinberg, Cordero was seeking her second singles title at the tournament in as many years. Seton Hall’s lone senior ultimately came up short, falling 3-6, 0-6.
After recording wins in her first two collegiate matches, Landert drew a date with Lucy Nutting. The SHU freshman edged Nutting 7-5 to jump out to an early advantage but subsequently fell in the second frame, 3-6. Down 5-9 in the 10-point tiebreak, Landert put together a run of six consecutive points, staving off four match points in the process and advancing to the final with a 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 win.
The momentum did not carry over into the final as Weinberg took the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 for Connecticut.
The C flight draw featured both Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) and Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) vying for a chance to play for the title on the tournament’s final day.
In another Seton Hall-Providence matchup, Shoemaker fell short of the final, losing to Karen Ramirez, 5-7, 4-6.
Keenan had to get past another freshman, Sacred Heart’s Lindsey Post, to earn the right to play for a championship in her first tournament as a Pirate. Similar to her second round match the day before, Keenan controlled play on her way to a straight set victory. In the final, Keenan bested Ramirez to take the crown with her second 6-2, 6-1 win of the day.
D flight competition began on Sunday with Seton Hall sophomores Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) and Maria Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia) on a championship collision course for the second year in a row.
Guryanova cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over PC’s Katherine Ripple and Rodriguez posted a 6-0, 7-6 (5) win against Quinnipiac senior Erin Suvar to create a repeat of the all-Pirate final that took place in 2011.
In the end, Rodriguez rode a slight edge to a 6-4, 7-5 win over her classmate to earn her second D flight title in as many years.
A true reflection of the team’s dominance over the weekend, 2012 marked the first time at least one Pirate had reached the final of each flight.
Seton Hall returned to South Orange in possession of three out of four singles titles that were awarded. The team was eliminated from doubles contention following the conclusion of play on Friday.
“This was a very strong showing for our first tournament of the year,” said head coach Greg Wyzykowski. “The titles are a nice reward for how the girls played but now we need to shift our focus to maintaining good form at our next tournament at Navy.”
The SHU tennis team will travel to the U.S. Naval Academy next weekend to take part in the fourth annual Bill and Sandra Moore Invitational as part of a nine-team field. Matches will begin at Noon on Friday, September 21 and will continue through Sunday, September 23.
Along with Seton Hall and hosts Navy, George Mason, Howard, Loyola (Md.), Manhattan, Monmouth, Towson and Saint Bonaventure are also scheduled to compete.
