Seton Hall University
St. John's
Players Mentioned
St. John's Squeaks By Tennis; 4-3
4/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 11, 2014
FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Seton Hall tennis team nearly handed St. John's its first loss in BIG EAST competition on Friday but in the end it was the Red Storm who scored four singles wins to earn a narrow 4-3 victory at the National Tennis Center in Queens.
The loss was a fourth-straight for the Pirates who move to 10-9 in the spring and will close the regular season with a 2-3 mark in conference play. Three of the four defeats during the current slide have now come by a slim 4-3 margin. For St. John's, the win was the fourth the team has recorded in its last five outings and improved the Red Storm's ledger to 9-7 overall and 3-0 against BIG EAST opposition.
It was a promising start for The Hall as the Pirates secured the doubles point for the first time in four matches to take a 1-0 advantage into singles play. Sophomores Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) and Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) got things rolling with a dominant win over Stephanie Elgegren and Puck Vlaskamp in third doubles, prevailing 8-2 to secure their second victory in three matches as a pair. One of six tandems to be slotted in at #3 this season for Seton Hall, the win by Landert and Liljekvist was the Pirates' 10th in third doubles this spring.
Needing just one more win to shake the doubles skid, sophomore Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) and junior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) came up short in the second position, leaving the point to be decided at #1.
The BIG EAST leaders with 10 wins at first doubles entering the day, senior Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) put away the Red Storm's top duo of Yanita Arnaudova and Anna Morozova, 8-6, picking up their second-consecutive victory and securing the point for The Hall.
St. John's prevailed in the first two singles matches to be decided as Shoemaker and Keenan fell at #5 and #4 respectively. With the momentum swinging in favor of the home team, it was Landert who registered a rousing win from the sixth position to level the score. After dropping the first set, 3-6, Landert yielded only three total games to Vlaskamp over the next two frames to wrap up a 3-6, 5-1, 6-2 triumph that tied the teams at 2-2.
Landert has proven to be a welcome addition to the fold for the Pirates after being inactive for most of the month of March, amassing a 4-2 combined record in singles and doubles since returning to action.
The Red Storm quickly regained the upper hand however as Nastya Polyakova moved past Sher in straight sets at #1 to put the home team within one point of victory. In the second position, Liljekvist had taken a one-set lead over Morozova, the St. John's wins leader who was unbeaten in her last four appearances heading into Friday. Morozova recovered to win the next two sets however, securing the team result for SJU.
Despite the result being decided, Portela earned a three-set victory over Arnaudova in the third slot, claiming he team-best fourth win in five BIG EAST matches and moving into sole possession of fourth on the team with nine wins to her credit during the dual match season.
Just one regular season match remains between the Pirates and the 2014 BIG EAST Championship as Seton Hall will remain in state to take on Monmouth next Friday, April 18 in the 2014 finale. Start-time is scheduled for noon in West Long Branch.
Seton Hall 3, St. John's 4
Doubles
#1. Chloe Sher/Rocio Portela (SHU) def. Anna Morozova/Yanita Arnaudova (SJU), 8-6
#2. Diamond Adams/Nastya Polyakova (SJU) def. Madison Shoemaker/Julia Keenan (SHU), 8-3
#3. Hannah Liljekvist/Alex Landert (SHU) def. Stephanie Elgegren/Puck Vlaskamp (SJU), 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
#1. Nastya Polyakova (SJU) def. Chloe Sher (SHU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
#2. Anna Morozova (SJU) def. Hannah Liljekvist (SHU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
#3. Rocio Portela (SHU) def. Yanita Arnaudova (SJU), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3
#4. Diamond Adams (SJU) def. Julia Keenan (SHU), 6-4, 6-0
#5. Stephanie Elgegren (SJU) def. Madison Shoemaker (SHU), 6-0, 6-2
#6. Alex Landert (SHU) def. Puck Vlaskamp (SJU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 6, 1, 2, 3
