SHU tennis defeats LIU Brooklyn in close contest

The Seton Hall tennis team defeated LIU Brooklyn on the road Friday afternoon in a close contest by a score of 4-3. The Pirates (5-5, 1-0) came into the match with momentum after a commanding 7-0 sweep against Villanova last Friday to start the spring season. LIU Brooklyn (5-3, 1-0) came into the match with victories over Oral Roberts and Bucknell in Orlando behind strong performances by sophomore, Anna Grigoryan, who was named Northeast Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday for the second straight week. Each team picked up a 6-3 doubles victory before freshmen Krista Cerpina and Anniek Jansen secured the critical doubles point for the Pirates with a 6-3 victory over Malin Leysen and Sasha Bollweg of LIU Brooklyn. [caption id="attachment_18445" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption] After three exciting doubles sets, freshman Michal Matson put the Pirates ahead 2-0 with a win at No. 3 singles. The Blackbirds then knotted up the score at two after singles victories by scores of 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5, 6-2. In the No. 5 match-up, junior Katie Kim gutted out a tough 7-5, 7-5 victory to give Seton Hall the edge once again. Next up was the No. 1 singles match featuring Anna Grigoryan of LIU Brooklyn and Pirate sophomore Anna Farjnorova. Farjanorova came looked to improve on what had already been an impressive singles record of 10-2. After losing the first set 4-6, Farjanorova won the following set via tiebreaker to force a third and final set. Ultimately, the Blackbird ace proved to be too much as she controlled the final set 6-3 and tied the overall score at three a piece. The final matchup was the number six singles matchup where the Pirates called on Jansen once again in hopes of a victory. Similar to her teammate, Jansen fell behind after dropping the first set 4-6. However, she began to hit her stride in the second set where she cruised to a 6-2 victory and carried her momentum into the finals set which she won 6-3 to clinch a hard-fought Pirates win. The Pirates will try to extend their win streak to three against Xavier on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. James Sherry can be reached at james.sherry@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @JSherry2324.