Jersey City, N.J. - The Long Island University women's tennis team had a successful day at Saint Peter's, winning a pair of matches. The Blackbirds upended the host Peahens, 4-0, before defeating St. John's by a 4-3 margin.

 

Against a short-staffed Saint Peter's squad, Long Island won the doubles point by way of a single victory. The senior duo of Selma Babic and H'Ann Johnson swept the Peahens pair of Andrea Collumb and Jessica Nouogrodzki, 8-0. In singles action, freshman Aleksandra Pavlovic downed Krysten Chen, 6-1; 6-0 at the No. 1 spot. At the second slot, fellow freshman Taysha Blessington was victorious by a 6-1; 6-1 margin over Joniesa Williams. Senior Stephanie Elie turned in the same winning score at No. 3, ousting Linnea Jansson.

 

Against St. John's, the Blackbirds gutted out their first win over their crosstown rival in head coach Asi Phillips' tenure. Long Island continued its stellar doubles play with a sweep of the point, headlined by Babic and Pavlovic's 8-2 win over Ira Aleksova and Nakita Austin at the No. 1 spot. At No. 2, Blessington and Johnson dealt Ksenia Mikhaylova and Joanna Zwirbulis an 8-3 loss. Rounding out the doubles play were Elie and senior Dara Lahens, who took home a third-spot win over Ece Firat and Alissa Liantonio, 8-6.

 

In singles action, Babic scored a big 6-0; 6-0 win over the Red Storm's top player in Aleksova. At No. 2, freshman Linn Sjogren fell to Zwirbulis, 6-3; 6-3. Pavlovic turned things around for the Blackbirds with a win at the third position, defeating Firat by a 6-2; 6-4 margin. Blessington suffered a 7-6 (3); 6-4 loss to Mikhaylova at No. 4 and Elie fell at No. 5 to Austin, 6-1; 6-1 to knot the match at 3-3.

 

The decision came down to the sixth position, where Lahens dug deep to upend Liantonio, 6-4; 1-6; 6-3 and give the Blackbirds their sixth straight victory. Long Island improved to 7-2 with the win.

 

The Blackbirds will visit Fairleigh Dickinson in a Northeast Conference tilt on Sunday, March 28 at 2:00 p.m.