Pirates Meet No. 10 Butler in Consolation Round

April 26, 2014

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall tennis team returns to the U.S. National Tennis Center this afternoon to wrap up their trip to the 2014 BIG EAST Championship presented by NEW YORK LIFE with a consolation matchup against the No. 10 Butler Bulldogs.

As the sixth seed in the 10-team field, The Hall (11-10) fell out of the main draw after dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 3 Xavier on Friday in the quarterfinal round. Following an opening round upset of seventh-seeded Creighton; Butler (5-17) was sent into the consolation bracket by No. 2 Marquette as the Bulldogs were swept, 5-0, winning just four games in four singles matches that reached completion.

Sophomore Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) tallied the lone point for SHU against the Musketeers, prevailing over Alex Brinker, 6-3, 6-1 in their second singles showdown. The victory was her third against a BIG EAST opponent this spring and she became the fifth Pirate to reach the 10-win mark during the dual match season.

Against Butler, the Pirates will look to start fast by asserting their doubles superiority. Any conversation of doubles at Seton Hall must start with the senior tandem of Rocio Portela (Demetrio Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and Chloe Sher (Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong) as the two veterans and co-captains will close an historic run that will see them leave the program as the winningest pair in school history.

Portela and Sher have notched 12 wins in 16 completed matches at the #1 position this spring, nearly matching the doubles win total of the entire Bulldog lineup as Butler boasts just a 15-45 (.250) mark between all three positions.

The Pirates' singles contingent figures to have the advantage as well given that Butler's three singles victories against the Bluejays stand as their lone triumphs in five conference matches this season (3-23, .115).

Sophomore Alex Landert (Naples, Fla.) had pulled even in her #6 match with Lizzie Oosterbaan before play was halted on Friday and will look to extend her impressive unbeaten streak into the offseason. Portela was also still on the court when the team result was decided and will look to put an exclamation mark on what has been her most successful campaign in blue & white with just one loss in her final six appearances.

Last season, Portela scored one of the team's two points in the consolation round against St. John's with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 performance against Diamond Adams at #2. Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) also recorded a win in consolation play, downing the Red Storm's Yanita Arnaudova in a three-set comeback victory at #3.

The senior has spent much of this spring occupying the third spot in the lineup for head coach Greg Wyzykowski while Keenan has typically been penciled in at the fourth position. The two have combined for 22 dual match victories while Butler is just 6-37 (.140) between #3 and #4 as a team.

First serve is scheduled for approximately 3:00 p.m. as the teams will take the court following the conclusion of the semifinal matches.

A recap will be available on SHUPirates.com.