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September 17, 2017
MANHATTAN, N.Y. - The St. John’s women’s tennis team ventured into Manhattan for its second fall tournament of the season at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center hosted by Columbia University.
The weekend was highlighted by sophomore Jessica Livianu winning the Brooklyn Singles Tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. The Red Storm also saw two other finals appearances from its roster as Delia Arranz reached the Manhattan Singles Tournament finals and the duo of Jaide Collins and Zofia Stanisz reach the finals of the Doubles 2 Tournament.
In the Brooklyn Singles Tournament, Livianu defeated University of Pennsylvania’s Ria Vaidya (3-6, 6-0, 6-1) in the quarterfinals and Jennifer Kerr of Columbia (6-3, 6-2) in the semifinals before beating Iryna Kostriko from Boston University (6-3, 6-4) in the final to claim the victory.
The weekend proved to be a solid tune-up for Livianu as the sophomore will head to Malibu, Calif. to compete in the Oracle/ITA Masters Tournament next weekend. This national collegiate championship event will be held at Pepperdine University and the Malibu Racquet Club and will feature the returning Player of the Year from each Division I athletic conference with one additional wild card spot. The tournament will consist of a double elimination 32-player men's singles draw and a double elimination 32-player women's singles draw, along with a single elimination 32-team mixed doubles draw.
Also making a run to the finals was Arranz in the Manhattan Singles Tournament. The junior won a pair of three-set thrillers over Odessa Stork of Hofstra (6-3, 2-6, 6-2) and BU’s Clara Falxa (0-6, 6-3, 6-3) to set up a matchup with Renee Ren from Columbia in the finals. Ren claimed the match in two sets (6-2, 6-4) over Arranz, but the junior finished with a 2-1 weekend.
In other singles matchups, junior Olaya Inclan Solis dropped a pair of matches in the Queens Singles Tournament for a 0-2 weekend. Senior Zofia Stanisz picked up two wins in the Staten Island Singles Tournament to reach the finals of the consolation-side of the tournament. Jaide Collins and Irina Preotescu both fell in a pair of matches in the Bronx Singles Tournament to finish 0-2 on the weekend.
On the doubles side, St. John’s saw the pair of Collins and Stanisz reached the final of the Doubles 2 Tournament with wins over Singh/Rodriguez-Benito of Penn (7-5) and Columbia’s Pollack/Hu (6-3) before falling in the final.
In the same bracket, the Arranz/Solis duo nearly set up an all-St. John’s final by picking up a victory over Penn’s Berkman/Richards (6-3) before falling in the semifinals to the eventual champions from Columbia.
Livianu also saw success in the doubles side of the bracket as the sophomore and her freshman partner, Kajsa Stegrell, blanked Hofstra’s Kaplan/Yellayi (6-0) to reach the semifinals of the Doubles 1 Tournament. However the duo would fall to Sullivan/Stretton of Maryland (6-3) in the semifinals.
The Doubles 3 Tournament also saw a victory for the Johnnies when Preotescu and freshman Nina Marjanovic picked up a win before falling in the semifinals to Flaxa/O’Fagen from BU.
In total, the Red Storm picked up at least one win in each doubles tournament to finish 5-4 on the weekend.