Pitt tennis coach George Dieffenbach has said that his team is most focused on Big East… Pitt tennis coach George Dieffenbach has said that his team is most focused on Big East conference play.

But a non-conference win over Carnegie Mellon, ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division III, on Tuesday could prove just as important.

The Panthers’ dominating 8-1 victory over the Tartans parlays momentum from a big conference win over Syracuse last weekend and gives the team a four-game win streak heading into this weekend, when the Panthers (7-6) run a veritable Big East gauntlet with back-to-back-to-back matches against Big East opponents.

Pitt travels to play Villanova, Seton Hall and Rutgers on consecutive days starting Friday – the last Big East matches before the Big East championships begin April 17 in Tampa, Fla.

“The team is competing with a lot of intensity,” Dieffenbach said.

“[Carnegie Mellon] is a very good tennis team. We will focus on a strong balance of offense and defense in these highly competitive Big East matches.”

Pitt seemingly had both against CMU. The Panthers only lost one match between both singles and doubles play, and Pitt swept all six singles matches. Pitt’s all-time career wins leader Kristy Borza beat CMU’s No. 1 singles player, Amy Staloch, 6-2, 7-5, in singles, and Borza and Elizabeth Adams took care of Staloch and Jenn Chui in the top doubles match. Adams also beat Kelly Hart, 6-0, 6-0, in her singles match.

Sabrina Visram and Christie D’Achille lost the only doubles match to Ashley Herrick and Kelly Hart, 8-5, but both Visram and D’Achille avenged the loss with singles wins over Chui and Alisa Liebowitz, respectively.

Carlie Smith and Leah Friedman defeated Brooke Loar and Liebowitz, 8-3, in doubles.

Smith defeated Loar, 6-1, 6-0 in singles. Friedman beat Herrick, 6-4, 6-1, in her singles match.