NEW YORK --- After losing a season to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NJIT women's tennis program returned to the courts this weekend for its first fall action of the 2021-22 campaign.

The Highlanders competed in the 12-team Columbia University Invitational, held from Friday to Sunday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and produced several standout performances.

Leading the way for NJIT were Sandra Dzhambazov and Shalom Salvi, the program's youngest members who had their collegiate debuts delayed last year. Salvi rallied from an opening round three-set defeat in the Rochester flight to win her Consolation bracket. Salvi then teamed up with Dzhambazov to win the Doubles E flight with victories over host Columbia and St. John's 

ALBANY FLIGHT
QF: Advaita Saravanan def. Yekaterina Alferova (Columbia), 6-0, 6-2
SF: Selin Sepkin (LIU) def. Advaita Saravanan, 6-2, 4-6, 13-11
3RD: Advaita Saravanan vs Jasmine Maduel (LIU), unplayed

QUEENS FLIGHT
QF: Anna Zhang (Columbia) def. Aya El Sayed, WD
C.SF: Aya El Sayed def. Lauren Stein (Cornell), WD
C.F: Jayden Nielsen (St. John's) def. Aya El Sayed, Default

ROCHESTER FLIGHT
QF: Michelle Xu (Columbia) def. Shalom Salvi, 1-6, 6-2, 10-4
C.SF: Shalom Salvi def. Khary Pryce (Cornell), 6-3, 7-6 (1)
C.F: Shalom Salvi def. Caitie Sullivan (Columbia), 2-6, 6-2, 10-3

STATEN ISLAND FLIGHT
QF: Amira Badawi def. Lalita Devarakonda (St. John's), 6-2, 6-1
SF: Amanda Chan (Penn) def. Amira Badawi, 6-4, 6-2
Amira Badawi def. Jayden Nielsen (St. John's), 3-6, 6-3, 10-7*

BUFFALO FLIGHT
QF: Iris Gallo (Penn) def. Sandra Dzhambazov, 6-3, 4-6, 10-5
C.SF: Sandra Dzhambazov def. Ekaterine Jorjoliani (LIU), 4-6, 6-1, 10-2
C.F: Victoria Erechtchenko (LIU) def. Sandra Dzhambazov, 3-6, 6-1, 10-6

DOUBLES D FLIGHT
QF: Mary Brumfield/Francesca Feodorov (UMD) def. Advaita Saravanan/Amira Badawi, 6-2
C.SF: Advaita Saravanan/Amira Badawi def. Elinor Storkaas/Bianca Compuesto (LIU), 6-4
C.F: Advaita Saravanan/Amira Badawi vs Deniz Soyer/Mandisa Walle (Hofstra), unplayed

DOUBLES E FLIGHT
QF: Sandra Dzhambazov/Shalom Salvi, Bye
SF: Sandra Dzhambazov/Shalom Salvi def. Caitie Sullivan/Yekaterina Alferova (Columbia), 6-2
F: Sandra Dzhambazov/Shalom Salvi def. Camila Ordonez/Willa Bay Breunich (St. John's), 6-4

*extra match added

NEXT UP
NJIT will continue its fall schedule this weekend at the University of Maryland Bedford Cup, being held Friday to Sunday, September 24-26, in College Park, Md.