Women's Tennis | 4/23/2016 5:04:00 AM

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SPARARTANBURG, SC—Third-seeded Stetson escaped an upset bid, 4-3, from sixth-seeded NJIT Saturday in the opening round of the 2016 Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Tennis Championships hosted by USC Upstate.

NJIT, in its first season competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, concludes the 2015-16 season on a positive note, taking the third-seeded Hatters down to the final match of the night.  The Highlanders finished the season with a 5-15 overall mark, 1-4 in the conference and the programs first postseason tournament appearance.

The match came down to sixth singles and Stetson prevailed 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals on Saturday against second-seeded Florida Gulf Coast.

"Hats off to the Highlanders with how the handled the Hatters," head coach Ira Miller commented. "We played our best match of the year on the biggest stage against players heralded as among the best in the A-Sun. Great doubles and hard fought
singles.  Look out 2017!"

The Highlanders dominated doubles play, picking up the point behind a win from freshman tandem Rafaella Sampaio and Amanda Helminsky, 6-2, defeating Stetson's Alexandra Lyubimova and Carolina Meregalli.

The Hatters evened doubles play at 1-1, with a 6-3 victory at third doubles but NJIT doubles pair Nathalie Haebegger and Alba Rosas Garcia clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 victory at the second spot.

Stetson evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over NJIT's Ines Vujkovac at fourth singles.

First through third singles were decided by three sets, with first singles, between senior Eveline Lepinay and NJIT freshman Sampaio.  The senior from Stetson picked up the win in the first set, 6-4, but NJIT's Sampaio battled back for a 6-2 victory.  In the final set, Lepinay rallied back for a 6-1 victory to earn the point.

Junior Nathalie Habegger went the distance at second singles with Stetson's Arijana Korac.  Habegger recorded a 6-4 victory in the first frame but Korac followed with a 6-4 win of her own.  In the third and final set, Korac finished off the frame with a 6-4 victory, giving Stetson a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore Alba Rosas Garcia combined for a three-set tilt victory at third singles against Maja Salibasic.  Rosas Garcia notched a 7-5 victory in the first frame. Stetson's Salibasic evened the score at 1-1, with a 6-1 win.  Rosas Garcia rallied back and brought the Highlanders to within one, 2-3, with a 6-2 victory.

Freshman Amanda Helminsky won easily in straight sets at the fifth spot, topping Ashley Dean, 6-0, 6-2, for a 3-3 score.