On Wednesday, the Seton Hall women’s tennis team played the second match of its schedule’s California swing. The match was hard fought, but ended up being a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Utah State Aggies.
The match started on a very positive note for the Pirates. Luize Strike and Anna Fajornova won their No. 1 doubles match with a score of 6-0. The top team of Strike and Fajornova has found success all season, with this being their fifth victory as a doubles pairing. In No. 2 doubles action, the team of Katie Kim and Thandy Kangwa lost in a tiebreak set, 7-6 (3). The No. 3 doubles team of Michal Matson and Melody Taal made up for their teammates at No. 2 doubles, winning their match 6-4. This win gave the Pirates the doubles point, and the edge on the Aggies heading into the six singles matches.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Strike, at No. 1 singles, fell to the top Utah State player Nini Guenseler 6-1, 6-2. Strike’s doubles partner, Fajornova, had a match that started off poorly end in victory. Fajornova lost the first set 5-7, but the sophomore from Slovakia would come back to win in convincing fashion with second and third set scores of 6-2 and 6-0. Unfortunately, for the Pirates the victory by Fajornova would be Seton Hall’s final point on the day.
In third singles action, Taal had about as close of a match that one can play especially in the first two sets. The first set of her match had a score of 7-6 (7), a gusty tiebreak win. Utah State’s Lucy Octave came out the winner of the second set and the match with a final score of 6-7 (7), 7-6 (6), 6-2.
Kangwa lost 6-1, 6-3 in fourth singles action. At No. 5 singles, Seton Hall’s Matson lost her match, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, to Hannah Jones. The win by Jones clinched the match victory for the Aggies. Seton Hall’s Kim lost to Sophia Haleas, 7-5, 6-4 in sixth singles to give the Aggies a 5-2 team win.
This loss made the Pirates’ record 4-5 this season. The team will head back east where they will start their Big East schedule against Villanova on Friday, March 17. The match will be played indoors at CenterCourt Morristown.
Brendan Finnegan can be reached at brendan.finnegan@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @FinnBrend.
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