Tennis: Panthers look to build on solid start

After starting the season with a 1-1 Big East record, the Pitt women’s tennis team will face… After starting the season with a 1-1 Big East record, the Pitt women’s tennis team will face two conference matches this weekend that could prove key factors in determining the direction of its season.

After finishing the 2010-2011 season below .500 and failing to qualify for the Big East Tournament, the Panthers strung together an early three-game winning streak this season. Pitt currently sits at 4-3 overall.

The Panthers’ first Big East win came after they started the year with a 7-0 victory over St. Bonaventure. The next day, however, the team dropped its match on the road against Penn State.

Pitt then headed to West Virginia on Feb. 3 to take on the Big East rival Mountaineers, a team the Panthers lost to in the previous three seasons. Pitt picked up a 5-2 victory, spurring the beginning of the three-match win streak that gave Pitt a valuable Big East win to start conference play.

Sophomore Jocelyn Lu played a key role in helping to pick up the victory over the Mountaineers. In No. 1 singles, Lu defeated West Virginia’s Emily Mathis in a three-set match (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) and paired with fellow sophomore Taylor Washington in No. 1 doubles to defeat Mathis and Mary Chupa (8-6).

“Losing to West Virginia last year was really tough,” Lu said. “It really motivated us to hit the ground running. We made sure we all were fired up for the match and ready to give it all we had from the get-go.”

Washington not only contributed to the doubles victory, but also posted a point in singles play with her victory over Ikttesh Chahal in No. 3 singles (6-4, 6-4).

“Beating [West Virginia] was a good confidence builder for us,” Washington said. “It was a close match, and it really showed that we can overcome any kind of obstacle.”

The win over West Virginia provided momentum for the Panthers in their next two matches. The Panthers defeated Bucknell by a 6-1 tally the day after defeating the Mountaineers.

The streak carried into last weekend, when the Panthers dominated St. Francis in a 7-0 shutout victory at home on Friday.

“It was really good to have a win streak early on,” Washington said. “It gave us confidence and put teams on notice that we are ready to compete.”

But the Panthers lost 6-1 to Georgetown on Saturday in their second Big East match of the year.

Pitt’s only point came from Washington’s victory in No. 3 singles against Kelly Comolli — a match forced into a tiebreaker that Washington won by two points (7-5, 4-6, 10-8).

Pitt fell again at home on Sunday against the New Jersey Institute of Technology in a close 4-3 match. The Panthers took the doubles point with victories in No. 2 doubles by Gabrielle Catanzariti and Kimmy Borza and No. 3 doubles by Amanda and Molly Wickman.

In singles, the Highlanders rallied to win four of six matches to overcome their deficit and pull out the victory. At the No. 1 spot, Lu defeated Ksenia Kuzmenko in straight sets (6-2, 6-2), and Washington won in No. 3 singles against Monika Graff (6-3, 6-3) to post two more points for Pitt.

But NJIT took the remaining four singles matches to seal the win. Pitt head coach George Dieffenbach said the match will help the Panthers learn.

“Today’s match was a challenge,” he said. “Despite the loss, the Panthers battled and competed strong. The bright spot was that we won the doubles point. We will improve as a result of this contest.”

Although the Panthers played well this weekend, Washington said that playing three matches in three days certainly became a factor.

The matches took a toll on the team, both physically and mentally, Washington said. She added that it becomes difficult to focus on each individual match and the style of the opposing player when playing matches so close together.

Fortunately for Pitt, the Panthers have more than a week before their next matches, for which they’ll head to Cincinnati for the weekend. The team will will face Cincinnati on Feb. 24 and Connecticut on Feb. 25.