Seton Hall University
Providence
Tennis Rallies Past Providence, 4-3
3/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- The Seton Hall tennis team picked up a crucial victory on Sunday evening, rallying to post four singles wins as junior Isabell Klingert (Oberbalbach, Germany) came up with the clinching point to help the Pirates score their eighth-straight win over Providence, 4-3.
It was the second conference win of the spring for The Hall (6-8, 2-2 BIG EAST) as the squad bounced back from a loss at the hands of Xavier on Friday. Providence dropped to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in league matches after falling to both the Musketeers and SHU over the weekend.
The Friars took a 1-0 advantage into singles play after earning the doubles point with two wins but point-scoring efforts from junior Hannah Liljekvist (Djursholm, Sweden) and Luize Strike (Riga, Latvia) in the top-two singles positions helped the Pirates regain control.
Liljekvist swept the first set and moved out to a 1-0 advantage in the second before Nicole Cyterski retired and ceded the point. The All-BIG EAST performer is now 3-1 against conference opposition in her second season in blue & white and registered both her 10th dual match win and 10th triumph of the spring with the result.
Strike, who returned to action against XU following an extended stretch where she was sidelined due to injury, battled her way to her first victory since February 21; outlasting Alana Prinos in a seesaw 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 affair at #2. One of the team's most consistent performers in just her first collegiate season, Strike is now 6-3 as an individual in limited spring action.
The victory by the freshman was also the first for SHU in the second spot over four conference outings to this point in the campaign.
PC leveled the score with a fourth singles win by Emma Burgess but newcomer Katie Kim (Honolulu, Hawaii) breezed past Hannah Zangari in straight sets (7-5, 6-3). from the sixth slot to put The Hall within one point of their sixth win this spring.
Kim has found a groove of late, winning three of her last four matches. The Hawaii native is also one of three Pirates along with Liljekvist and Klingert that have recorded multiple singles wins against BIG EAST competition in dual match play.
Junior Julia Keenan (Greenland, N.H.) nearly sealed the result for Seton Hall but saw an early one-set edge erased by Jennifer DeLuca in their third singles meeting, ultimately falling 6-2, 4-6, 0-6.
With the team victory in the balance, Klingert faced a one-set deficit against Amanda Pitocco at #5. The junior, who has exhibited dominant form over the last three months, had only dropped four total sets in 15 previous singles matches this spring and rebounded to send the Pirates into the win column with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 triumph.
One of the league's wins leaders with 20 for the season and 12 in dual matches, Klingert has now come out on top in her last five appearances. A newcomer to the BIG EAST after transferring from Gonzaga following the 2013-14 season, Klingert also remained unbeaten in four singles outings against conference foes in 2015.
It was also the first match-clinching point for Klingert during a remarkable run that has seen her emerge victorious from 15 of her 16 singles matches since the spring slate began in January.
In doubles, Kim and senior Madison Shoemaker (Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia) picked up their team-leading seventh dual match win with an 8-7 (6) result over DeLuca and Pitocco but it was not enough for The Hall to come away wither another point.
Seton Hall will return to action on Thursday, April 2, traveling to Monmouth for the first of two non-conference road matches in as many days. Start-time is set for 2:00 p.m. in West Long Branch.
Seton Hall 4, Providence 3
Doubles
#1. Burgess/Prinos (PC) def. Keenan/Liljekvist (SHU), 8-7
#2. Kim/Shoemaker (SHU) def. DeLuca/Pitocco (PC), 8-7 (6)
#3. Cyterski/Zangari (PC) def. Quevedo/Klingert (SHU), 8-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
#1. Hannah Liljekvist (SHU) def. Nicole Cyterski (PC), 6-0, 1-0 ret.
#2. Luize Strike (SHU) def. Alana Prinos (PC), 6-1, 2-6, 6-1
#3. Jennifer DeLuca (PC) def. Julia Keenan, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
#4. Emma Burgess (PC) def. Marisa Quevedo (SHU), 6-3, 6-4
#5. Isabell Klingert (SHU) def. Amanda Pitocco (PC), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
#6. Katie Kim (SHU) def. Hannah Zangari (PC), 7-5, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5
