Seton Hall Athletics
The Seton Hall women’s tennis team started the spring season off with a bang, advancing four semifinalists in three of their four possible flights at the NJIT Winter Invitational.
The Pirates were led by junior Hannah Liljekvist and Freshman Luize Liva Strike, both of whom advanced to two of the four available spots in the top singles flight.
Liljekvist dropped the first set against Fordham’s Sarah Ali before rallying to take the match two sets to one. Strike swept NJIT’s Carolina Zanotta in quick work winning (6-4) (6-3) in straight sets. Strike will go on to face Army sophomore Allyson Hayley and Liljekvist takes on LIU-Brooklyn’s Marine Dans with the potential of an all-Seton Hall championship match.
The Hall also fared well in doubles action. Juniors Liljekvist and Julia Keenan dominated the competition to record two victories, dropping only five games in each match. The pair took the first match against Army’s Allyson Hayley and Bridget Guenard in a sweep, dropping only two games in the match. Keenan and Liljekvist will face Fordham’s Julie Leong and Estelle Wong in the semi-finals match on Sunday.
If Keenan and Liljekvist pull off the title, Keenan will have opened the spring with a title for the second season in-a-row.
Liljekvist has the potential to take home a title in both the singles and doubles tournaments.
The last semifinalist for the Pirates is junior Isabell Klingert, who defeated Fordham senior Anna Novacek in round 1 of the C flight competition with a (6-2) (6-4) sweep.
Klingert advances to face Fordham’s Caroline Sa in her semifinal match on Sunday.
Klingert also fared well in doubles alongside senior Anna Guryanova as the pair routed LIU-Brooklyn’s Brittany Thompson and Isabella Wagener 8-2. The duo fell short of meeting Keenan and Liljekvist in the semifinals following a loss to Leong and Wong.
In more doubles action, Madison Shoemaker and Katie Kim bounced back to defeat NJIT’s pair of Vujkovac and Rosas, 8-5, in the consolation round.
All in all the Pirates are off to a strong start in the young spring season, capturing seven victories across the board. The Pirates look to bring home three championship titles on Sunday in Newark, with three singles semifinalists and one doubles semifinalist pair.
Kevin Huebler can be reached at kevin.huebler@student.shu.edu
