St. John’s Three-Peats, Xavier Wins First BIG EAST Tennis Championship
CAYCE, S.C. – The St. John’s men won their third-straight league title while the Xavier women took home their first on Sunday at the 2016 BIG EAST Tennis Championship presented by Jeep. The No. 1 seed Red Storm topped No. 2 Marquette 4-0 and the No. 2 Xavier women upset No. 1 DePaul 4-2.
St. John’s senior Roberto Livi was named the Men’s Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament after registering a win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, in the title match. Xavier junior Sydney Liggins was named the Women’s Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, having won 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.
The Red Storm used wins from the No. 3, 1, and 4 positions to score the victory after winning the doubles point 6-3, 6-2. Lucas Hejhal and Alan Nunez Aguilera were the No. 2 duo that capped doubles play. In singles competition, it was Vadik Munshaw that clinched the match at the No. 4 spot with a 6-4, 7-6 win.
The women’s title match was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Musketeers deny the Blue Demons a three-peat of their own. With each team having won a doubles match, it was No. 2 pair Cristina DiLorenzo and Alex Brinker that secured the point for Xavier with a 7-6 decision.
Things heated up even further in singles play, as DePaul’s Rebeca Mitrea won at No. 4 and Patricia Lancranjan notched a victory at No. 2 to briefly give the Blue Demons a 2-1 lead. A few minutes later, Liggins tied the match and then at No. 4 singles, Amina Ismail was awarded the win 2-6, 6-3, 4-0 after Marina Cozac was forced to retire. It was Lauren Ghidotti that clinched the match at No. 6, 7-5, 6-3, to give the Musketeers the 2016 crown.
This is the first conference championship for a Xavier women’s sports team since joining the BIG EAST in 2013.
With their BIG EAST titles, St. John’s and Xavier will receive the conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship. The complete bracket for the women’s tournament will be revealed at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, via a selection show on NCAA.com. The men’s bracket reveal will follow at 5:30 p.m.
As part of BIG EAST Serves, the conference donated food from the championship to Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, S.C. Harvest Hope’s Columbia location services 10 counties and distributed 16,334,749 pounds of food to 247,205 families in fiscal year 2015.