The St. John’s women’s tennis team opened their season with two victories in a doubleheader against Fairfield and NJIT on Friday.
The women defeated Fairfield 7-0 at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Freshman Jessica Livianu, who is ranked 43rd, defeated Fairfield’s Sarah Stuhlmann in 6-1, and 6-0 victories for her first singles career win. In the number four spot, junior Zofia Stanisz secured the team’s singles victory with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Shelby Vertula. Junior Irina Preotescu finished the singles match with two 6-0 shutouts.
All three Red Storm doubles teams won their respective matches. The third doubles team, junior Jaide Collins and senior Stephanie Elgegren shutout Fairfield’s Verutla and Meghan Zimmer with a 6-0 win. The second team of sophomore Delia Arranz and Stanisz secured the doubles match point with a 6-2 victory. The women’s win over Fairfield extends their home win streak to 10 matches since the 2015 spring season.
After their home match, the Red Storm traveled to New Jersey and defeated NJIT 7-0 at the Naimoli Center in Newark. On the doubles side, Collins and Elgegren again had a 6-0, shutout victory against NJIT’s Natalija Tasovac and Ines Vujkovac. Livianu and Anna Morozova also had shutout victory to secure the double’s point.
Livianu continued her hot singles start by defeating Rafaella Sampaio, 6-0 and 6-1. Anna Morozova defeated Nathalie Habegger 6-4, 6-3. Sophomore Olaya Inclan secured the Red Storm’s second victory of the season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The women also defeated NJIT and Fairfield with 7-0 victories last season. St. John’s look to continue their success against FIU next Friday, Feb. 3 at the National Tennis Center.