Women's Tennis | 1/24/19
Pictured Above: The 2018-19 Wagner College women's tennis team (Credit: Dave Saffran)
Newark, NJ – The Wagner College women's tennis team opens its spring 2019 season when it travels to Newark, NJ for a dual match at NJIT on Friday. The match will begin at 5:00 p.m. from the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility.
Friday's match is just the third all-time meeting between the two programs with the Highlanders holding a 2-0 edge in the head-to-head series. Wagner and NJIT are meeting for the first time since March 26, 2008 in which the Seahawks were blanked, 7-0, on its home court.
About The Seahawks:
- Wagner finished the fall season with a 3-2 record and 1-0 in Northeast Conference (NEC) matches.
- The Green & White are riding a two-match win streak, after concluding the fall with a 6-1 victory over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) members, Rider, in Lawrenceville, NJ, back on October 16.
- Freshman Samantha Lugtu leads the team with six overall wins this season.
- In dual matches, senior Rina Baynes, sophomore Fidan Khalilzade and Lugtu all have three victories.
- In doubles play, the pairing of team captains, junior Vedika Anand and Baynes, have recorded four overall wins, three of coming out of the No. 1 position.
About The Highlanders:
- Friday's contest with Wagner marks the first dual match of the 2018-19 season for NJIT, as they competed in four invitational tournaments, which included the ITA Regional Northeast Championship, which was held back on October 11 through October 15 in New Haven, CT on the campus of Yale University.
- Joleta Budiman leads the Highlanders with a perfect 8-0 overall record while teammate Mikaya Hamilton has added four victories.
- In doubles, Budiman and Advaita Saravanan are 5-1 on the season while Holly Matson and Rafaella Sampaio are 2-1 this year.
- NJIT was selected to finish sixth in the 2019 Preseason ASUM Conference Coaches' Poll, the league announced back on January 11.
Up Next For Wagner:
- The Seahawks will tangle with Big East members, St. John's, on Friday, February 1 as Wagner travels to Queens as the two New York-based schools will compete at the USTA National Tennis Center.
