Seton Hall University
Navy Tournament
SHU Advances to Four Finals at Navy
9/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Two team members will have a chance to capture their second individual title of the young season as junior Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) and freshman Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) clinched a berth in the final for the second time in as many weeks.
Sher won two matches on Saturday to earn a shot at the A flight crown. In her opening match, she dropped only two games on her way to eliminating George Mason's Brittany Pilkington, 6-0, 6-2. In the semifinals, Sher dispatched Carlee Rizzolo of Nova Southeastern also in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2. She will take on #1 seed Katelyn Stokes (Howard) in the final.
The Hong Kong native will have a chance to complete the trip to Annapolis with two championships as she teamed with classmate Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) to advance to the A flight doubles final. In their only match of the day, SHU's top pair proved too much for the Nova Southeastern team of Austin Lavallii and Carlee Rizzolo to handle, taking an 8-3 win.
On her way to the C flight final, Keenan also posted two wins on Saturday. Her quarterfinal draw yielded a match with Howard's Gabrielle Moxey. The Seton Hall freshman took the first set 6-3, before jumping out to an early advantage in the second. In the middle of the second frame, Moxey retired, giving Keenan a 6-3, 3-0 (ret.) win.
In the semifinal, last year's New Hampshire Player of the Year ran into teammate and doubles partner Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia).
Shoemaker had advanced by virtue of a three-set comeback victory over Navy's Stefanie Ton. After falling in the first set 6-7 (4), Shoemaker rallied to even the match with a 6-4 second set win. In the third, the second-year player sent Ton home by taking the tiebreak, 10-5.
In the all-Pirate semifinal, Keenan got past Shoemaker with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. She will square off against Towson senior Andrea Samlin in the final, a matchup of players who have yet to drop a set this weekend.
Like Sher and Keenan, sophomore Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) will be playing in a final for the second straight week. Guryanova registered two straight-set victories in D flight competition on Saturday to become the third team member to earn a shot at a championship.
Her road featured two representatives from the host team Navy, but neither Vivian Chau nor Carrie Laskey was up to the task of ousting the Moscow native. Against Chau, Guryanova posted a 6-3, 6-3 win. She went on to best Laskey in similarly convincing fashion, registering a 6-2, 6-2 triumph.
Sophomore Maria Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia) came within one step of meeting Guryanova in the D flight final for the second straight tournament. Last week's Quinnipiac Invitational D flight champion, Rodriguez eased past Towson's Cailey Easdale in their final-eight match (6-3, 6-1). In the semifinals however, she came up short against Cassandra Fisbeck of Navy, falling 5-7, 3-6.
Also alive in the main draw at the beginning of the day was senior Karina Cordero (Maracay Estado Aragua, Venezuela). After posting one win on Friday, Cordero ultimately fell in the B flight quarterfinals, dropping a 4-6, 2-6 decision to Navy's Gabby Winter.
Also competing in the B flight, freshman Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) picked up two victories en route to the consolation final.
Landert fell out of the main draw after being edged by Nova Southeastern's Austin Lavallii on Friday. The freshman from Florida exacted a measure of revenge by topping two of Lavallii's teammates on Saturday. Landert blanked her first opponent before closing her day with an impressive display of determination in a 9-7 win over Luisa Pintado.
After opening up a 4-1 advantage to start the match, Landert dropped six straight games. Down 4-7 and on the brink of elimination, she put together a run of five consecutive games in her favor to take the victory.
By day's end, the Pirates had earned a spot in the finals in four out of six main draws featured at the tournament. After capturing three titles in their first outing of the year last week, SHU will look to add to the trophy case when play concludes on Sunday.
