The NJIT women's tennis team produced a number of impressive performances during this weekend's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Northeast Regional Championships, held on the campus of Princeton University.
Six Highlanders participated in the tournament between singles and doubles with four singles players reaching the round of 32, one pair advancing to the doubles quarterfinals, and one Highlander - Joleta Budiman - winning her section of the draw to advance to the ITA Super Regionals, being held at Yale University beginning October 21st.
"We had strong play and a few upsets from the entire team this weekend. The women came to the tournament ready to compete and it showed. Joleta performed with composure through two difficult third set tie-breakers to advance to Super Regionals while Shivani and Joleta reached the finals of their draw with some strong doubles play and Shalom and Laura upset seeded players to advance to the third round. As a team, we are eager to compete and grow and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season to see what they can do," head coach Patricia Piorkowski McDonald said of the team's performance this weekend.
COMPLETE RESULTS - ITA DI NORTHEAST REGIONALS
SINGLES RESULTS
Joleta Budiman
R128: Bye
R64: Def. Cloe Clements (Marist) 7-5, 6-3
R32: Def. Amira Badawi (Rutgers) 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11)
R16: Def. Jamie Wei (Temple) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (7)
Laura Wipfli
R128: Def. Daniela Naves (Rider) 6-1, 3-2
R64: Def. Carlota Casasampere (Fordham) 6-2, 6-3
R32: Lost to Saki Oyama (LIU) 7-6(4), 6-4
Shalom Salvi
R128: Def. Leila Koster (Rider) 6-0, 6-2
R64: Def. Eileen Wang (Penn) 6-3, 7-6(3)
R32: Lost to Maia Sung (Princeton) 6-3, 6-3
Shivani Ingle
R128: Bye
R64: Def. Olivia Kempinski (Seton Hall)
R32: Lost to Leena Bennetto (Princeton) 6-1, 6-2
Sandra Dzhambazov
R128: Def. Hamsa Javagal (Lehigh) 6-2, 6-2
R64: Lost to Veronika Kulhava (Temple)
DOUBLES RESULTS
Shivani Ingle/Joleta Budiman (NJIT)
R64: Bye
R32: Def. Lorie Lemongo/Mya Fuentes (Drexel) 8-5
R16: Def. Cooper Jackson/Paige Herreman (ARMY) 8-6
QF: Loss to Victoria Erechtchenko/Saki Oyama (LIU)
Sandra Dzhambazov/Laura Wipfli (NJIT)
R64: Lost to Natalia Aruj/Loren Cuomo (Binghamton)
Shalom Salvi/ Irene Cocero (NJIT)
R64: Lost to Veronika Kulhava/Sena Takebe
NEXT UP
Budiman will travel to New Haven, Conn. for the ITA Super Regionals from Oct. 21-24 while the full team will wrap up the fall season at the University at Buffalo Hidden Duals from Nov. 4-6.