NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT women's tennis team split its two weekend matches on March 8 and 9, falling to Binghamton, 4-3, on Saturday and rebounding with a 5-2 win over St. Bonaventure on Sunday, with both matches played indoors on campus in the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility.
 
The matches each bore some significance beyond the norm.
 
The visit from Binghamton marked the first competition between NJIT and a team from the America East Conference in women's tennis since the Highlanders were added to the conference as an associate member for the sport.
 
The America East crowns its women's tennis champion in a postseason tournament. The America East tournament  champ becomes an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division I Tournament. The 2014 America East championship tournament will be hosted in Baltimore by UMBC from April 25 to 27.
 
With seven of the next eight regular season matches scheduled to be played on the road, Sunday's home match vs. St. Bonaventure was accompanied by Senior Day ceremonies. Always an important day when a college team lauds its seniors, 2014 Senior Day for the NJIT women noted the contributions of a class that includes six of the eight players on the roster.
 
As a group, they were the core players of teams that won back-to-back Great West Conference championships in their freshman and sophomore years. The Great West, in the process of leaving the stage entirely for all sports by July 1, 2013, did not have enough women's tennis teams to offer a conference championship in their junior year.
 
In Saturday's match vs. Binghamton (3-6), the Highlanders won two of the three doubles slots to take that point. But the Bearcats prevailed in four of the six singles to edge the home team, 4-3.
 
Ksenia Kuzmenko, one of the seniors and NJIT's top player, was a winner in both first singles and first doubles, where she teamed with classmate Jana Luste, who also captured her contest at third singles. At first singles, they topped Agatha Ambrozy and Katherine Medianik, 8-4, while Kuzmenko won in first singles, 6-2, 6-1 against Binghamton's Alexis Tashiro. Luste continued to haunt Medianik in singles, topping the Bearcat, 6-3, 6-4.
 
Kuzmenko and Luste were the only victorious Highlanders in singles, but Hannelore MacDonald teamed with freshman Nathalie Habegger for an 8-3 NJIT win in third singles vs. DiMuro and Sara Kohtz of Binghamton.
 
MacDonald, playing at fifth singles, extended Ambrozy, who had played first doubles for the Bearcats, to three sets one-on-one. Ambrozy prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
 
The only Bearcat with wins in both singles and doubles was Shea Brodsky, who defeated NJIT junior Carolina Zanotta, 7-5, 6-2 in sixth singles after earlier teaming with Tashiro for their team's only doubles win, 8-3, in the second slot vs. Zanotta and Natalia Melibeu of NJIT.
 
On Sunday, NJIT took the two contested doubles slots and the third by default to claim the doubles point. In singles, Luste competed at #1 and Fatya Amiri of St. Bonaventure, 4-6, 6-1, 10-7. Melibeu and Megan Guidry were straight-sets 6-0, 6-0 winners at fourth and fifth singles, respectively and NJIT won the sixth singles by default.
 
The Highlanders are 4-5 after the two weekend home matches, while St. Bonaventure is 4-7.
 
NJIT's next action takes place in Virginia during Spring Break. The Highlanders will visit Richmond in a 2:30 pm match on March 18 and then Norfolk State the following day for a noon contest.
 
Results—
 
Binghamton def. NJIT, 4-3 (March 8)
 
Doubles
1. Kuzmenko/Luste, NJIT def. Ambrozy/Medianik, Bing 8-4
2. Brodsky/Tashiro, Bing def. Melibeu/Zanotta, NJIT 8-3
3. MacDonald/Habegger, NJIT def. DiMuro/Kohtz, Bing 8-3
 
Singles
1. Ksenia Kuzmenko,NJIT def. Alexis Tashiro, Bing 6-2,6-1
2. Sara Kohtz, Bing def. Nathalie Habegger, NJIT 6-1,7-5
3. Jana Luste, NJIT def. Katherine Medianik 6-3,6-4
4. Annie DiMuro, Bing def. Natalia Melibeu, NJIT 6-2,6-2
5. Agatha Ambrozy, Bing def. Hannelore MacDonald, NJIT 4-6,6-1,6-2
6. Shea Brodsky, Bing def. Carolina Zanotta, NJIT 7-5,6-2
 
NJIT def. St. Bonaventure 5-2 (March 9)
 
Doubles
1. Brossard/ Martinez-Santori (St. Bonaventure) def. Zanotta/Melibeu (NJIT) 8-5
2. MacDonald/Habegger (NJIT) def. Amiri/Skhirtladze (St. Bonaventure) 8-5
3. NJIT won by default
 
Singles
1. Jana Luste (NJIT) def. Fatya Amiri (St. Bonaventure) 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 
2. Marisa Brossard (St. Bonaventure) def. Nathalie Habegger (NJIT) 6-1, 6-0
3. Mara Martinez-Santori (St. Bonaventure) def. Hannelore MacDonald (NJIT) 6-1, 6-2
4. Natalia Melibeu (NJIT) def. Mariam Skhirtladze (St. Bonaventure) 6-0, 6-0
5. Megan Guidry (NJIT) def. Emily Rosman (St. Bonaventure) 6-0, 6-0
6. NJIT won by default