BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The NJIT women's tennis team found itself beginning its Spring Break with a road battle against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros. The Highlanders nearly overcame a 2-0 deficit but ultimately fell, 4-3 to UTRGV Monday afternoon at the Brownsville Tennis Center.
UTRGV (8-4) clinched the doubles point with wins in the top two flights and went ahead 2-0 after a straight sets win at No. 1 singles. Amira Badawi split the Vaqueros' lead in half after winning at No. 3, 6-2, 6-3, but a UTRGV win at No. 5 pushed the Highlanders to the brink.
Instead of giving up, NJIT (6-5) would fight back as Aya El Sayed picked up her No. 2 match in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) and Sandra Dzhambazov rallied to win at No. 4 in three sets (2-6, 6-2, 6-2).
The Highlanders were in position to complete the comeback after Shalom Salvi jumped out to a 3-0 lead in her No. 6 singles match but UTRGV's Katarina Sasaroga produced a rally of her own by tying the match at 3-3 and going on to win, 6-4.
NEXT UP
The Highlanders will look to bounce back with two matches against their new Southland Conference league members in Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Wednesday, March 16) and Incarnate Word (Thursday, March 17).
UT Rio Grande Valley 4, NJIT 3
3/14/2022 at Brownsville, TX (Brownsville Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Bahr, Isabelle (UTRGV) def. Joleta Budiman (NJIT) 6-4, 7-5
2. Aya El Sayed (NJIT) def. Souza, Marjorie (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-4
3. Amira Badawi (NJIT) def. Putz, Sandra (UTRGV) 6-2, 6-3
4. Sandra Dzhambazov (NJIT) def. Martinez, Barbara (UTRGV) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Wilske, Stefanie (UTRGV) def. Advaita Saravanan (NJIT) 6-1, 7-5
6. Sasaroga, Katarina (UTRGV) def. Shalom Salvi (NJIT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Martinez, Barbara/Souza, Marjorie (UTRGV) def. Aya El Sayed/Sandra Dzhambazov (NJIT) 6-2
2. Bahr, Isabelle/Sasaroga, Katarina (UTRGV) def. Advaita Saravanan/Amira Badawi (NJIT) 6-2
3. Putz, Sandra/Mamicova, Kristyna (UTRGV) vs. Joleta Budiman/Shalom Salvi (NJIT) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes
NJIT 6-5
UT Rio Grande Valley 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,3,5,2,4,6)
T-2:56 A-60
