Box Score CAYCE, SC— Villanova defeated Seton Hall 4-3 in round one of the BIG EAST Tournament.
Villanova overcame Seton Hall in a hard-fought, 4-3, victory to advance to the quarterfinals. The Wildcats opened the match by capturing the doubles point. Isabella Steffen and Jenna Stevens surpassed Emily O'Donovan and Aili Hietala, 6-2, at third doubles. Teammates Miriam Gondorova and Ami Grace Dougah followed close behind with a 6-2 victory of their own, defeating Pirates Aina Plana Ventosa and Anastasia Sereda.
Seton Hall fought back, capturing their first point at No. 3 singles when Plana Ventosa defeated Gondorova 6-3, 6-4. The Wildcats answered with a singles victory of their own; Stevens registered a straight-set victory over Niamh Campbell on the fourth court (6-3, 6-3). Building on the momentum, Villanova's No. 5, Lauren Monti, surpassed Hietala 6-1, 7-5. The Pirates persisted, leveling the score at 3-3 behind wins on the top two courts courtesy of victories by No. 1 Anastasia Sereda (def. Ami Grace Dougah, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2) and No. 2 Imogen Brooker (def. Maggie Gehrig, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1).
The match was decided at No. 6 singles; Valieriia Kornieva fought back from a first set deficit and a second-set tiebreak to win it for the Wildcats [2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2]. Seventh-seeded Villanova will meet second-seeded DePaul in the quarterfinals at 12:45 p.m. ET.
Doubles
In the one spot, senior
Ami Grace Dougah and freshman
Miriam Gondorova teamed up to defeat Plana Ventosa and Sereda 6-2.
Sophomores
Emi Callahan and
Maggie Gehrig's match was abandoned after Villanova already secured the doubles point.
Jenna Stevens and
Bella Steffen clinched the doubles point for the Wildcats, winning their match 6-2 over Donovan and Hietala.
Singles
In the one spot Dougah fell in the third set to Sereda, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Gehrig in the two spot dropped her match to Brooker, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
Gondorova battled Plana Ventosa and lost in two sets, 6-3, 6-4.
In the fourth spot, freshman
Jenna Stevens picked up the victory over Campbell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Lauren Monti took on the fifth position for Villanova and dominated Hietala, 6-1, 7-5.
The clinching point for the victory came from junior,
Valieriia Kornieva. After dropping the first set 6-2 against Moen, Kornieva pulled off a battle in the second 7-6. The third set was taken convincingly by the junior, 6-2 to give Villanova the victory.
UP NEXT
Round two will be tomorrow for Villanova as they will take on DePaul at 12:45 pm in South Carolina.
