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It was a historic weekend for the Pitt women’s tennis team as it had its most impressive Big… It was a historic weekend for the Pitt women’s tennis team as it had its most impressive Big East tournament performance in the program’s history.

With an opening round win against No. 8-seeded Cincinnati, the ninth-seeded Panthers won their first-ever first round match in the Big East tournament, which took place in Tampa Bay, Fla.

Senior Christie D’Achille won the pivotal match, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-2, to push the Panthers ahead for good in the game to get a 4-3 win. It was D’Achille’s 61st career singles win.

Also winning in singles for Pitt was junior Shannon Benic, winning 6-2, 6-1, while sophomore Elizabeth Adams won 6-2, 6-0, and sophomore Adela Aprodu won 6-2, 6-2.

In doubles, the tandem of senior Kristy Borza and Adams won by a score of 8-5.

The historic win pushed Pitt into the second round to face No. 1-seeded Notre Dame. The Panthers lost the meet by a score of 4-0.

Dropping into the consolation bracket, the Panthers went on to face the No. 3 seed and host team the South Florida Bulls and again dropped a 4-0 decision.

But despite the two losses, Pitt earned its highest finish in Big East tournament history, finishing seventh.

After the match, Adams was named as the team’s MVP. She led the team with 22 singles victories and 24 doubles wins, a school record.

The end of the tournament also marked the end of seniors Borza, Fran Liebenguth and D’Achille’s careers.’

With Borza and D’Achille both taking more than 100 career wins, Borza ends her four years as the all-time Pitt leader in several categories such as combined wins, single-season singles as well as career singles and doubles.

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