Tennis: Panthers fall again to Duquesne

The words “very disappointed” were followed by a crisp silence. That’s all… The words “very disappointed” were followed by a crisp silence. That’s all Pitt women’s tennis head coach George Dieffenbach could muster after the Panthers fell to Duquesne 5-2 for the third year running Tuesday at The Club in Monroeville, taking Pitt’s record to 5-3 on the season.

Though Pitt holds a 23-11 all-time record over its cross-town foe, the Dukes have dominated the rivalry, dubbed the City Match, in recent years. Dieffenbach gave all the credit to the victor.

“Duquesne is a very good team, a very strong team,” Dieffenbach said in a phone interview. “They hit the ball very hard. They’re also smart in terms of playing defensive tennis.”

Pitt fell behind early, dropping all three doubles matches to go down 1-0.

Junior Elizabeth Adams and senior Shannon Benic lost 8-2 to Samantha Noble and Rachel McGowan at No. 1 doubles. Senior Sabrina Visram and freshman Gabrielle Catanzariti fell 8-3 to Erin Conroy and Megan O’Sullivan at No. 2. Junior Adela Aprodu and freshman Karma Parbhu lost 8-1 to Ana Mungo and Tara Majdalani in the third doubles match.

Dieffenbach lamented the importance of the doubles point, which if won, means a team only needs to win three of six singles matches to seal a victory.

“That doubles point is critical,” he said. “It’s psychologically very important … That’s a pivotal part of the match.”

The Panthers never fully recovered.

Though Adams (defeated Mungo 6-2, 6-4) and Parbhu (defeated Stephanie Novakowski 6-2, 4-6, 6-3) emerged victorious from their respective singles matches, the rest of the team — Aprodu, Benic, Catanzariti and Visram — lost in straight sets.

Aprodu fell to McGowan 3-6, 5-7, Benic lost to O’Sullivan 3-6, 4-6, Catanzariti 2-6, 3-6 to Conroy, and Visram 4-6, 4-6 to Noble.

Dieffenbach lauded Duquesne’s talent, citing its aggressive style and power game and the ability to retrieve on defense. The coach even said Duquesne, which plays in the Atlantic-10 conference, is just as good, if not better, than the teams Pitt faces in the Big East, which features two top-25 programs in Notre Dame (No. 3 in the nation) and DePaul (No. 23).

“The competition we faced against Duquesne was as strong or stronger than the competition we face in the Big East tournament and Big East regular season,” Dieffenbach, who has been coaching at Pitt for 33 years, said. “We just lost to a very good team.”

The Panthers next shift back to league play, when they travel to Philadelphia to take on Villanova today at 1 p.m.

Pitt has nine Big East matches remaining on its schedule, and a visit to Villanova could be the perfect remedy for a team reeling after a loss in a rivalry match.

Pitt holds a 13-6 lifetime edge over the Wildcats and has won the last four regular season clashes between the two schools.

“We’ll be fine. We’ll bounce back from it,” Dieffenbach said.