The Seton Hall tennis team won three individual events and had a fourth representative in a final at the 2012 Quinnipiac Invitational this weekend.
The three day tournament featured a medley of both singles and doubles teams from around the Northeast.
Junior Chloe Cher, freshman Julia Keenan and sophomore Maria Rodriguez all won first place in their respective "A", "C" and "D" flights.
"The Quinnipiac Tournament is one of the bigger tournaments on the season," coach Greg Wyzykowski said. "So it was important to play well" In the "A" flight, Sher received a first round bye as the top seed. She later defeated Maria Clara Bernardez of Providence, 6-4, 6-0.
With the win, Sher advanced to Sunday's semifinal. After the Pirates' strong play on Saturday, seven players remained alive in the Main Draw in four semifinal flights. Sher represented Seton Hall as the lone "A" flight competitor.
She went on to defeat Providence freshman Alana Prinos with a 6-2, 6-2 win, advancing to the finals. In the finals, Sher overcame Providence's Marisela Aviles- Duron 6-2, 3-6, 10-5. This title marks her second "A" flight title in the last three years. Keenan took the "C" flight bracket, taking the crown over Providence's Karen Ramirez 6-2, 6-1.
"The experience shown in our freshmen helps our older girls out too," Wyzykowski said.
As for the "D" flight compe- tition, six Pirates took the courts. In the end, two Pirates battled for the prize.
Rodriguez and sophomore Anna Guryanova took the court. This was a repeat of the all-Pirate final that took place last year. Rodriguez edged Guryanova once again, this time 6-4, 7-5 marking her second straight "D" flight title.
Freshman Alex Landert came close to the "B" flight title; how- ever, a 3-6, 2-6 loss to Connecticut's Maxene Weinberg in the final prohibited her from doing so.
Friday's play consisted strictly of doubles matches. Seton Hall entered four doubles tandems, two in the "A" flight and two in the "B" flight. Senior captain Karina Cordero and Landert made the most out of their first tournament together.
The two cruised past Michelle Aptekin and Maggie Tooley of Sacred Heart 8-1 and followed that performance with an 8-6 win over Alexandra Berman and Marie Gargiulo from Connecticut. The pair would eventually lose to another Connecticut duo of Emile Burgess and Lucy Nutting, 8-5.
Guryanova and Rodriguez, a pair quite familiar with each other, opened play in the "B" Flight. The two got off to a hot start, beating Providence's Caitlin Foley and Olivia Hogan 8-5. The two sophomores would exit play in the next round with a 4-8 loss to Julia Allen and Natalie Robson of Connecticut.
On Friday the team travels to Annapolis, Md. to take part in the Navy Tournament.
Wyzykowski said the team is excited about the rest of their season. "We look forward to keep improving," Wyzykowski said. "We are going to find some stronger teams this weekend vs. Navy, so it is important to keep moving forward."
David Heim can be reached at David.Heim@student.shu.edu
