Seton Hall University
Quinnipiac Invitational
Pirates Post Six Wins on Opening Day
9/13/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 13, 2013
HAMDEN, CONN. - The Seton Hall women's tennis squad opened its fall schedule on Friday with day one of the Quinnipiac Invitational; scoring a number of victories in doubles competition to start the year.
The newly formed tandem of junior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) and newcomer Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) began the season in grand style; scoring three of the Pirates' six victories on the day while dropping only eight games en route to tomorrow's "A" flight final.
The duo debuted with a convincing 8-2 win over Hannah Goldman and Madeline Makings of Hartford before cruising to another six-game victory against Quinnipiac's Sophia Dzulynsky and Jacqueline Raynor in the quarterfinals.
Faced with a matchup with Jen Learmonth and Srna Stosljevic of old BIG EAST foe Connecticut in the semis, Liljekvist and Shoemaker responded by doubling up the Huskies' duo; clinching a berth in the championship match with an 8-4 triumph.
The two will face off against Army's team of Margaret Iliev and Carolyn Pitman for the tournament title on Saturday at 8 a.m.
Another SHU duo playing together for the first time enjoyed success on Friday as sophomore Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) and freshman Julie Martiny (Brussels, Belgium) advanced to the B flight semifinals on the strength of two gritty victories.
The two underclassmen drew the Black Knights' Alyssa Hanson and Maya Parker in the first round and made enough shots to earn the right to move on in a 9-7 affair.
In the quarterfinals, Keenan and Martiny were matched with a tandem in Sophia Costes and Maggie McLaughlin of Navy that did not lose a single game in their opening round match. Seton Hall's pair again rose to the occasion, putting their opponents away in the clutch to secure an 8-6 win.
One step away from reaching the finals in their first tournament as a team, Keenan and Martiny fell to conference rival Providence's team of Taylor Corder and Amanda Pitocco, 8-4.
Seton Hall's other victory on the day came from a familiar source in seniors Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong). In their first match of the season, the two SHU captains overpowered PC's youthful squad of Jennifer DeLuca and Hannah Zangari; advancing 8-4.
In the quarterfinals however, Portela and Sher were tripped up by Rachel Horton and Sydney young, two Bobcats playing on their home court.
Anna Guryanova (Moscow, Russia) and Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) were also in action in B flight competition but could not capitalize on an early 6-3 advantage as they were edged by the Friars' team of Olivia Hogan and Karen Ramirez, 9-7.
The tournament will resume on Saturday with the finals of doubles competition and the beginning of singles play. Doubles and singles brackets can be viewed in the links above.
