This past weekend, the Seton Hall women’s tennis team competed in the West Point Invitational, a tournament featuring schools from all over the map and offering a wide range of competitors. For the Pirates, the tournament did not go as planned, as many players were eliminated in the first or second round of their respective brackets.
Beginning with the A Singles tournament, where two participants finished higher than any other Pirate in any other tournament. Regina Pitts was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sofya Trescheya of Syracuse, who eventually went on to win the bracket. Melody Taal was also eliminated in the quarter finals by 6th ranked Sydney Jones of Rutgers. In the B Singles tournament, Minja Gligic was eliminated in the first round by Hannah Boudel of Army and then eliminated again in the second round of the consolation tournament by Paula Gonzalez of Lehigh.
Aina Plana Ventosa, a Seton Hall freshman, was also defeated in the first round by Penelope Abreu and lost again in the first round of the consolation tournament by Danna Funaro of Army. 3rd ranked freshman Hiba El Khalifi was beaten in the first round in both the regular and consolation tournaments by Marta Martinez and Alex Cuo, respectively. Mekeila Erpamer was eliminated in the first round by Sibel Can of Lehigh and eliminated in the first round of the consolation tournament by Sasha Inchauste of Army.
In the C Singles tournament, 5th ranked Michal Matson was eliminated in the first round by Mala Balce of Fordham and was beaten in the semifinals of the consolation tournament by Andie Williams. In the final tournament for the singles portion, the E singles tournament, Anniek Jansen was eliminated in the second round by Katerina Atallah of Colgate. In the A Doubles tournament, Pitts and Gligic were eliminated in the first round by top-ranked Valeriva Deminova and Avery Aude of Fordham.
Similarly, Taal and Erpamer were eliminated in the first round by 6th ranked Holly Matson and Mouna Bouzagarrou of NJIT. As for the B Doubles tournament, Plana Ventosa and El Khalifi were eliminated in the first round by Abby Warner and Sydney Fitch of the Air Force Academy.Matson and Jansen were eliminated in the first round by Leannae Kendell and Manuela Gomez Estrada of Bryant.
Overall for the Pirates it was a disappointing showing, and they will look to rebound with their next tournament from Oct. 4-6 at the Navy Invitational.
Francis Pettorini can be reached at francis.pettorini@student.shu.edu.
