Seton Hall University
ITA Northeast Regional
Keenan Advances on Day One at Northeast Regional
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NEW HAVEN, CONN. - Seton Hall junior Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) dropped only two games in her opening round qualifying match at the 2014 United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championship on Thursday, advancing to within one victory of earning a main draw berth.
Matched up with Kim McCallum of Boston University, Keenan swept the first set and needed only two games over the minimum in the second to move on to the final qualifying round. The victory was her seventh of the fall and moves her into a Friday morning matchup with Madeline Zein of Rutgers that will decide one of the eight available qualifying entries into the main draw.
Should Keenan prevail against Zein, she would join fellow Pirates Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) and Luize Liva Strike (Riga, Latvia) in the main draw of 128.
Freshman Marisa Quevedo (Tyler, Texas) was also in action but dropped a straight-set decision to Shreya Pasricha of Fairleigh Dickinson. Quevedo responded to a first set loss by taking a lead in the second frame but eventually fell, 3-6, 4-6.
All four Pirates who received invitations remain in the tournament however as Keenan will team with Liljekvist while classmates Quevedo and Strike will form another tandem in a doubles field that features 64 pairings.
The final round of qualifying singles will lead off a loaded Friday slate from New Haven that is also scheduled to include two rounds of doubles competition. Main draw singles will begin on Saturday morning and play will continue through Tuesday, October 21 when both the individual and doubles champions will be crowned.
For updates throughout the weekend, follow @SHU_Tennis on Twitter and check back on SHUPirates.com
