Women's Tennis Defeats Sacred Heart, 6-1, to Remain Unbeaten

Written by: Deric Raymond
Published: Monday, January 28, 2019

NJIT Women's Tennis improved to 2-0 in the spring season with a 6-1 road victory over the Sacred Heart Pioneers Sunday afternoon on the campus of Yale University.

The Highlanders followed up their dominant victory of Wagner College from Friday by taking all but one singles matchup against the Pioneers.

NJIT earned the doubles point with a sweep of its three matches. Sophomore Holly Matson and freshman Joleta Budiman delivered the first win of the day, defeating SHU's No. 1 duo, 6-2. Senior Rafaella Sampaio, freshman Mouna Bouzgarrou, freshman Shamika Dhar and sophomore Advaita Saravanan paired up and followed suit at No. 2 and No. 3, winning their matches by the same score..

In singles, outside of a hard-fought loss at No.1 by Saravanan, the Highlanders won their matches in convincing fashion. Junior Mayar Eltonyand senior Amanda Helminsky gave NJIT a 2-0 singles lead with their wins at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, and freshman Adara Omar clinched the match for the Highlanders with a 6-2. 6-3 win at No. 5 singles.

"I would like to thank my players for showing good intensity and focus across the board. We have a lot of respect for Sacred Heart's team, they competed very well and fought until the end," head coach Zaki Abdelrahman said after the match. "Even though we are not playing our best tennis yet, we will take the positives from this weekend and build on them for next Friday."

NJIT will begin a six-match homestand on Friday, February 1 when the Highlanders host Fairleigh Dickinson at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.

NJIT 6, Sacred Heart University 1

Singles competition

1. Brianne Lauria (SHU) def. Advaita Saravanan (NJIT) 6-3, 6-3
2. Mayar Eltony (NJIT) def. Keira Tobia (SHU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Shamika Dhar (NJIT) def. Lauren Santarsiero (SHU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Rafaella Sampaio (NJIT) def. Adrianne Alfonso (SHU) 6-3, 7-6
5. Adar Omar (NJIT) def. Laura Crivei (SHU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Amanda Helminsky (NJIT) def. Nicole Vassalle (SHU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Holly Matson/Joleta Budiman (NJIT) def. Brianne Lauria/Olivia Podsiebierski (SHU) 6-1
2. Rafaella Sampaio/Mouna Bouzgarrou (NJIT) def. Keira Tobia/Adrianne Alfonso (SHU) 6-2
3. Shamika Dhar/Advaita Saravanan (NJIT) def. Lauren Santarsiero/Laura Crivei (SHU) 6-2

Match Notes

NJIT 2-0
Sacred Heart University 1-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,1,5,4,3)