​NEWARK, NJ–The NJIT women's tennis team opened the 2025 Fall campaign at the Villanova Invitational this past weekend.

Quote from Coach Patricia Piorkowski McDonald
"The Villanova Invite is always a great weekend of competition and sportsmanship," said head coach Patricia Piorkowski McDonald.  "The team and I enjoy starting off our fall season with this event every year. We had an amazing showing from our freshman Diana Fernandes this weekend who went 6-0.  As a whole, the team played well and competed hard. I am looking forward to the rest of the fall invites as well as regionals and the Big South Invitational to see what this team can do."

About the Invitational
The Invitational featured teams from Temple, Syracuse, Penn and host Villanova with match play split between Villanova's West Campus courts and the University of Delaware. The format began with doubles opening each matchup followed by best-of-three singles.

Highlander Highlights
Freshman Diana Fernandes who hails from Porto, Portugal, made her collegiate debut at the Villanova Invitational, combining for an impressive 6-0 mark on the weekend.

Senior Paula Menendez Alvarez from Gijon, Spain registered a 5-1 record on the weekend for the Highlanders.

Up Next
NJIT will return to action on September 26-29 when the Highlanders compete at the Army Invitational.

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