Four Teams Set the Field for #BEtennis Championships
Women's Results - St. John's 4, Xavier 0 | DePaul 4, Marquette 2 | Bracket
Men's Results - DePaul 4, Georgetown 3 | Marquette 4, St. John's 2 | Bracket
CAYCE, S.C. - Following a thrilling semifinal round, the 2018 BIG EAST Tennis Championship presented by Jeep field is set with No. 1 St. John's facing No.2 DePaul on the women's side and No. 1 DePaul challenging No. 3 Marquette in the men's bracket.
In the first semifinal match to conclude, top-ranked St. John's picked up a 4-0 shutout win over No. 4 Xavier to advance to Sunday's title game.
After falling behind in the first doubles match, the Red Storm picked up wins on courts two and three to hold a point advantage into singles play. During singles play, sophomore Jessica Livianu took down Ahmeir Kyle 6-2, 6-3, to push ahead 2-0 in the overall match.
After Irina Preotescu picked up a win at No. 5 singles, Olaya Inclan Solis clinched the match with a 6-2, 7-6 (1) straight-set victory at No. 2 singles.
DePaul's Alina Kuzmenkova's 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory over Marquette's Andrea Amortegui sealed the Blue Demons' 4-2 triumph and propelled the women's tennis program onto its fourth BIG EAST title match in the last five years.
The No. 2-seeded Blue Demons will face St. John's Sunday at 9 a.m. ET, for the Big EAST crown and automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
For the second day in a row, the Marquette men rallied for a win, this time downing St. John's 4-2, in the semifinals.
After falling behind 1-0 in doubles play, MU quickly moved in front 3-1 courtesy of straight-set victories by sophomore Brandon Shanklin, senior Alvaro Verdu and sophomore Brett Meyers.
At No. 3 singles, freshman Luis Heredia Gomez was able to pull away in the third set against Andrei Crapcenco and his 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win secured the come-from-behind decision.
On the other side of the complex, top-ranked DePaul found themselves in a battle with No. 5 Georgetown.
After securing the doubles point, the Blue Demons built a comfortable 3-1 lead, looking to courts one, two and five to clinch the match.
Georgetown began to rally back when junior Michael Chen and freshman Rohan Kamdar picked up wins at No. 5 and 2 singles, respectively, turning all eyes to No. 1 singles.
Sophomore Boris Spanjaard took down the Georgetown senior Peter Beatty 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the match and advance to Sunday's Championship game, scheduled to hit off at 12:30 p.m.
DPU will face MU for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Check @BIGEASTChamps, #BIGEASTtennis along with the Championship Central for the most up-to-date information.