The Seton Hall women’s tennis team took a short drive to Newark, N.J. on Friday to face off against NJIT in what was a nail-biting, 4-3 defeat. The loss continued the Pirates skid, as their losing streak extended to three matches with the result, dropping their record to 1-4 in the process.
The match opened with doubles competition, as Seton Hall took two of the three matches to earn the crucial doubles point. Luize Strike and Anicka Fajnorova were able to win the first doubles in heart-pounding fashion, seven sets to six, with the Pirates overcoming the Highlanders in tie-breaks, 7-5. Krista Cerpina and Katie Kim clinched the doubles win in the No. 2 slot with a 6-2 win, giving the Pirates early hope for a victory against the Highlanders with a 1-0 lead.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
In the singles part of the match, NJIT won four of the six matches to ultimately grab the 4-3 edge over Seton Hall. The tandem of Strike and Fajnorova – who had helped get Seton Hall off to its good start – both took their opponents to the end in three set matches; however, neither could finish the job. Strike lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, while Fajnorova fell 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
The other four matches went back and forth between the two teams. The Pirates got another positive contribution from Cerpina, as her heroic singles win helped pull the Pirates even at 2-2. Cerpina began her singles match by giving away the first set, 6-2, but finished the next two sets with dominant 6-2 wins of her own, sparking life into the Pirates squad.
NJIT won again in the No. 4 singles game to break the tie and put the Pirates’ backs against the wall. In the next game, Michal Matson made sure Seton Hall would live to see another game by sweeping her match, 6-4, 6-4, to once again put the overall competition at a deadlock.
In the last match, Anniek Jansen was unable to give the Pirates the come-from-behind victory. Jansen came ever so close, though, winning the first set 7-5, and then going deep into second set tiebreakers before falling 7-6, 7-4 in the tiebreaks. Jansen lost the third set 6-1.
Robert Fallo can be reached at Robert.fallo@student.shu.edu.
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