Dominant Adams keeps Pitt undefeated

‘ ‘ ‘ After capturing her second consecutive Big East Player of the Week award, Elizabeth Adams… ‘ ‘ ‘ After capturing her second consecutive Big East Player of the Week award, Elizabeth Adams won all four of her matches over the weekend to push the Pitt tennis team to two victories and remain undefeated on the season. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers knocked off Big East foe Georgetown 5-2 on Saturday and swept George Mason under the rug 7-0 the following day. Both contests were played in Washington, and the victories upped Pitt’s record to 7-0, 4-0 in the conference. ‘ ‘ ‘ Adams said her goal this season is to help the team do the best it can in the Big East. Her award-winning play has led the Panthers to their best start since 1992, when they began the year 7-0. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[The awards] really mean a lot to me,’ said Adams. ‘I was really excited when I won the first one. I had never gotten an award that big before so it was really surprising to me. When I won the second one, I was just shocked ‘mdash; I didn’t think I would get it again. It’s a great honor to win that award, and I’m really proud of it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Adams, who is currently Pitt’s No. 1 singles player, defeated Georgetown’s Michelle Brown 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday and George Mason’s Lindsay Gray 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’ve just been playing a lot of tennis lately and working out a lot,’ said Adams, who is off to a 14-0 start of her own this season. ‘ ‘ ‘ Half of Adams’ victories are at doubles with senior Kristy Borza, who has already broken almost every Pitt tennis record. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[Borza] is one of the greatest supporters on the team,’ said Adams. ‘She is always there for me and everyone else and is a great asset to the team.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt coach George Dieffenbach said one of the reasons for Adams’ success is that she excels in practice and is very coachable. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When I moved her to the top of the lineup, she took that challenge to heart,’ said Dieffenbach. ‘She has become more offensive and more consistent.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Another high note for the Panthers came from senior Christie D’Achille, who won four matches as well last weekend, putting her above the 100-win total for her career. The 100th win came Sunday at No. 2 doubles with senior Shannon Benic. D’Achille is just the 12th Pitt player to win 100 matches. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘[D’Achille] has been awesome for the team, and I’m very proud of her,’ said Adams. ‘ ‘ ‘ Another interesting matchup on Sunday was freshman Minh Evans’ 7-5, 6-3 victory over the Pitt coach’s daughter, Sarah Dieffenbach. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I was sure to congratulate [Evans] after a strong victory, she played very well,’ said the elder Dieffenbach. ‘They both gave 100 percent, it was a very good match and it was great to watch.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt has won four straight over Georgetown. Its next match is at home on Saturday against Buffalo (2-3) at 6 p.m.