The Seton Hall women’s tennis team fell to LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, 4-3, at CenterCourt Sports in Florham Park, N.J. The loss drops the Pirates to 3-7 this season, while the visiting Blackbirds improve to 9-3.
Anicka Fajnarova, Melody Taal, and Michal Matson shined for Seton Hall, helping the Pirates split the singles portion of the match in head coach Kevin McGlynn’s first competitive fixture since signing on for his second stint with the program. LIU-Brooklyn; however, swept the doubles matches, which turned out to be the deciding factor in the match.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
McGlynn joined the Pirates midseason following the resignation of his predecessor, Riza Zalameda, for personal reasons. McGlynn coached the Pirates to some of the program’s best results from 1991-96.
The coach did not have an ideal start on Saturday, though, as the Blackbirds entered the match with a number of dominant wins, including three 7-0 wins and one 8-1 win. The Pirates played inspired, but could not obtain the result to break their recent skid. The loss is the third straight for Seton Hall, following a 3-4 start to the spring.
The visiting Blackbirds seized the initiative in doubles action, defeating the Seton Hall pairings of Luize Strike and Melody Taal, 6-3, Anicka Fajnarova and Thandy Kangwa, 6-3, and Michal Matson and Katie Kim, 6-4.
In the day’s top singles match, Strike fought from behind to force a third set, but she could not outlast her opponent in a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 decision. Fajnarova, Taal, and Matson won the next three matches in convincing fashion, but the Blackbirds fought back, defeating Katie Kim and Anniek Jansen to win the day.
Seton Hall will finish its non-conference schedule on Friday, March 30 against Hofstra, in what will be the Pirate’s first match this spring at the Campus Courts at Ivy Hill Park. One day later, Seton Hall will take on DePaul in its Big East opener, also at Ivy Hill Park.
Kyle Beck can be reached at kyle.beck1@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @notkylebeck.
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