St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Howard
Howard Outlasts St. John's In Home Opener, 4-3
2/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's tennis team returned to the courts after a one-week hiatus, but was outlasted by Howard, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon in the Red Storm's home opener at the Alley Pond Tennis Center in Queens.
St. John's (0-5) senior duo of Nakita Austin and Ece Firat won their No. 2 doubles matchup, but the Red Storm lost the No. 1 and No. 3 slots to fall behind 1-0 against the Bison.
Firat quickly leveled the match with a dominating 6-2, 6-2 performance at her No. 4 singles slot, but Howard took a 2-1 advantage with a win at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Diamond Adams leveled the match once against with a 7-5, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles, but against Howard was able to go up one with a win at the No. 5 position.
Junior Nevena Selakovic won a three-hour battle against Howard's Katelyn Stokes 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 at No. 1 singles to tie the match at three all with just one more singles matchup remaining. In the last singles slot, Howard's Anne Akhimien topped STJ's Terri Thomas 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the 4-3 win for the Bison.
St. John's returns to action on Friday, Feb. 24 when it travels upstate to take on Army at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.
To stay up to date with everything St. John's tennis this season be sure to track the squad by following @STJ_Tennis on Twitter and join the conversation by using the newly-created #stjtennis hashtag.
Howard 4, St. John's 3
Singles competition
1. Nevena Selakovic (STJ) def. Katelyn Stokes (HOW) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
2. Diamond Adams (STJ) def. Brittney Morgan (HOW) 7-5, 6-0
3. Brooke Hawthorne (HOW) def. Joanna Zwirbulis (STJ) 6-4, 6-4
4. Ece Firat (STJ) def. Michelle Brown (HOW) 6-2, 6-2
5. Talia Johnson (HOW) def. Nakita Austin (STJ) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
6. Anne Akhimien (HOW) def. Terri Thomas (STJ) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Katelyn Stokes / Brittney Morgan (HOW) def. Diamond Adams / Nevena Selakovic (STJ) 8-6
2. Nakita Austin / Ece Firat (STJ) def. Talia Johnson / Anne Akhimien (HOW) 8-2
3. Michelle Brown / Brooke Hawthorne (HOW) def. Joanna Zwirbulis / Terri Thomas (STJ) 8-3
Match Notes:
Howard 2-2
St. John's 0-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,3,2,5,1,6)
Players Mentioned
