NEW ORLEANS — And then there were four.
Competing in the program's first-ever Southland Conference Tournament, the No. 4 seed NJIT women's tennis advanced to the semifinals with a 4-1 victory over the No. 5 Nicholls Colonels Friday evening at the University of New Orleans' University Tennis Courts.
The Highlanders (11-7) will face top-seeded Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon at 10 a.m. CT / 11 a.m. ET for the right to face the winner of No. 3 New Orleans and No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the SLC Championship on Sunday, April 24.
After a 2-1 defeat in doubles gave Nicholls a 1-0 lead, the Highlanders clinched the match by claiming the top four singles flights.
Joleta Budiman put NJIT on the board and tied the match at 1-1 with a straight set victory at the No. 4 spot, Aya El Sayed gave the Highlanders the lead with a top flight, straight set win, and Sandra Dzhambazov and Amira Badawi put the match away with a pair of three-set triumphs at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
The conference tournament win is the program's first since the No. 3 Highlanders defeated No. 6 Kennesaw State in the ASUN Quarterfinals
almost five years to the day - April 21, 2017.
NJIT 4, Nicholls 1
04/22/2022 at New Orleans, La. (University Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Aya El Sayed (NJIT) def. Simona Maksimovic (NICH) 6-1, 7-5
2. Amira Badawi (NJIT) def. Jessie Mount (NICH) 6-2, 6-6 (5-7), 6-3
3. Sandra Dzhambazov (NJIT) def. Sophia Sara Safarova (NICH) 1-6, 6-1, 6-0
4. Joleta Budiman (NJIT) def. Carla Bouygues (NICH) 6-3, 6-0
5. Advaita Saravanan (NJIT) vs. Laura Lopez (NICH) 7-6, 4-4 (9-7), unfinished
6. Shalom Salvi (NJIT) vs. Constanza Cruz (NICH) 6-3, 4-6, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Jessie Mount/Laura Lopez (NICH) def. Aya El Sayed/Joleta Budiman (NJIT) 7-5
2. Advaita Saravanan/Amira Badawi (NJIT) def. Constanza Cruz/Carla Bouygues (NICH) 6-1
3. Morgan Forshag/Sophia Sara Safarova (NICH) def. Shalom Salvi/Sandra Dzhambazov (NJIT) 6-4
Match Notes
Nicholls 12-11
NJIT 11-7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,3,2)
Official: David Fleuriet A-70
