NEWARK, N.J. — The spring campaign for the NJIT women's tennis team got off to a literal and figurative perfect start as the Highlanders swept the visiting Marist Red Foxes, 7-0, Friday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility.

"I was very proud of the work ethic the team displayed today. Marist put a lot of balls into play and as a team, we were very disciplined and efficient. Laura Wipfli came back from a break point down to force and win her first set tiebreaker. Wipfli and Irene Cocero led an all around strong doubles performance by the entire team," head coach Patricia Piorkowski McDonald said after the opening victory.

The Highlanders (1-0) handled doubles in 1-2-3 order, with the aforementioned Wipfli and Cocero posting the biggest win in the first flight. In singles, NJIT was even more dominant, with half the flights (Nos. 2-4) only surrendering one game each, Nos. 6 and 5 allowing two and three games respectively, and NJIT took all six singles matches in straight sets.

NEXT UP
NJIT will finish the weekend with another home match on Saturday, January 27 at Noon against Rutgers.

NJIT 7, Marist 0
1/26/2024 at Newark, NJ (Naimoli Center)
Singles competition
1. Laura Wipfli (NJIT) def. Caterina Assi (MAR) 7-6 (7-6), 6-1
2. Sofia Pinedo (NJIT) def. Vihana Shresta (MAR) 6-1, 6-0
3. Shalom Salvi (NJIT) def. Ellen Zureick (MAR) 6-0, 6-1
4. Irene Cocero (NJIT) def. Akanksha Sreenivas (MAR) 6-0, 6-1
5. Paula Menendez Alvarez (NJIT) def. Andriana Zaphiris (MAR) 6-3, 6-0
6. Feyza Aydin (NJIT) def. Jane Wright (MAR) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Laura Wipfli/Irene Cocero (NJIT) def. Caterina Assi/Vihana Shresta (MAR) 6-1
2. Sandra Dzhambazov/Sofia Pinedo (NJIT) def. Ellen Zureick/Andriana Zaphiris (MAR) 6-3
3. Paula Menendez Alvarez/Shalom Salvi (NJIT) def. Akanksha Sreenivas/Jane Wright (MAR) 6-4

Match Notes
Marist 0-3
NJIT 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,2,1,5,6)