Video: Post-match Interview
West Windsor, N.J. - The Long Island University women's tennis team defeated top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, 4-2, in the championship match of the Northeast Conference Tournament, held at the Mercer County Tennis Center. The title win was the second straight for the second-seeded Blackbirds.
The Blackbirds toughed out the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. After the No. 2 team of freshman
Taysha Blessington and senior H'Ann Johnson fell to Julia Prantl and Egzona Morina, 8-6, the third position duo of senior
Stephanie Elie and junior
Dara Lahens evened things up with a 9-8 win over Ksenia Chernyshova and Jessica DeCarlos. Long Island secured the point when the No. 1 pairing of senior
Selma Babic and freshman
Aleksandra Pavlovic fought off a late charge from Julija Korshunova and Elmine Botes to take a 9-7 win.
In singles action, Babic gave the Blackbirds a 2-0 lead when she downed Korshunova at No. 1, 6-2; 6-1, for her 13th straight win. The Knights (17-5) scored their first team point of the day when Morina dealt Blessington a 6-4; 6-3 loss at the fourth position. Soon after, Pavlovic pulled Long Island within a point of the championship when she defeated Prantl, 6-4; 6-3, at No. 3.
Johnson fell to Cherynshova, 6-4; 6-4, at No. 5 to make it a 3-2 match and things got close at No. 2, where freshman
Linn Sjogren forced Botes into a third set. The championship came down to the sixth position, where Elie had taken the first set from DeCarlos in a 7-4 tiebreaker. She led in the second set 4-3, but DeCarlos quickly turned the tables by winning a pair of games, making it 5-4. Elie rallied but the two needed to go to a tiebreaker once again, with the Fresh Meadow, N.Y., native coming out on top with a 7-2 decision to give the Blackbirds their second consecutive NEC Championship.
With the win, Long Island (14-3) is guaranteed a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team bracket will be announced on ESPNews on Tuesday, May 4 between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
NEC Championship
No. 2 Long Island 4, No. 1 Fairleigh Dickinson 2
Singles
1. BABIC, Selma (LIU) def. KORSHUNOVA, Julija (FDU) 6-2; 6-1
2. BOTES, Elmine (FDU) vs. SJOGREN, Linn (LIU) 6-2; 6-7 (3-7); 2-3, unfinished
3. PAVLOVIC, Aleksandra (LIU) def. PRANTL, Julia (FDU) 6-4; 6-3
4. MORINA, Egzona (FDU) def. BLESSINGTON, Taysha (LIU) 6-3; 6-2
5. CHERNYSHOVA, Ksenia (FDU) def. JOHNSON, H'Ann (LIU) 6-4; 6-4
6. ELIE, Stephanie (LIU) def. DeCARLOS, Jessica (FDU) 7-6 (7-4);7-6 (7-2)
Doubles
1. BABIC, Selma/PAVLOVIC, Aleksandra (LIU) def. KORSHUNOVA, Julija/BOTES, Elmine (FDU) 9-7
2. PRANTL, Julia/MORINA, Egzona (FDU) def. BLESSINGTON, Taysha/JOHNSON, H'Ann (LIU) 8-6
3. ELIE, Stephanie/LAHENS, Dara (LIU) def. CHERNYSHOVA, Ksenia/DeCARLOS, Jessica (FDU) 9-8