Tennis has unfinished business

Pitt tennis has a bad taste in its mouth.

Last year, after failing to qualify for the Big… Pitt tennis has a bad taste in its mouth.

Last year, after failing to qualify for the Big East championships, some players took it to heart and went to work to ensure it didn’t happen again this year.

“We’ve kind of been upset about it ever since,” Pitt junior Kristy Borza said, “and I know all of our players have worked hard over the summer. Last year, it was pretty devastating that we didn’t get to go, so I think we’ve been pretty hungry for it this year.”

That devastation and hunger led to Borza accomplishing a lot over the fall season. She won the Women’s Eastern Collegiate Invitational before reaching the round of 32 in the ITA Championships, breaking a school record for fastest player to reach 100 wins and earning a ranking of 26 in the ITA Region 1 singles list – a first in Pitt history for singles. Borza and teammate Leah Fiedman became the first ITA-ranked doubles team from Pitt last year.

Friedman, who missed the later portion of the season because of a wrist injury, has recuperated from wrist surgery and joins the Pitt lineup this season in the No. 6 spot after playing most of last year at No. 2.

Pitt coach George Dieffenbach said experience and leadership for his team is improved with Friendman, who almost has 100 career wins, at the bottom of the lineup.

“We have a lot of depth,” Dieffenback said. “It’s great to have [Friedman] back regardless of where she’s at on the lineup.”

Friedman rounds out a lineup peppered with veterans and youth alike: Senior Carlie Smith is fifth, junior Christie D’Achille fourth, freshman Elizabeth Adams third, sophomore Sabrina Visram second and Borza leads the lineup.

Doubles will also pose interesting questions. Borza has teamed up with Adams in the No. 1 slot. Adams proved to be a tough competitor this fall. She managed to make it to the finals of each tournament in which she competed. Borza credits Adams’ skill to the level of play she experienced in high school, qualifying for states three times and leading her high school teams to several high-level accolades.

“It’s nice to get a few girls who played high levels of high school competition,” said Borza.

Borza’s win tally now stands at 107 – three behind teammate Smith – and just 19 wins behind the school record for most wins.

“There might be some racing,” a laughing Borza said, adding that while the record is something “fun to chase,” it could lead to a more competitive spirit and more wins for her and Smith.

Higher competition is certainly an apt motif for this season, said Borza. Dieffenbach scheduled a lot more challenging matches this year. Starting the season with a Big East match against Georgetown, the schedule looks to be “one of the hardest schedules we’ve ever played,” Borza explained.

“We didn’t it by design,” Dieffenbach said. “We were free this weekend and [Georgetown was] free to travel here, so we did it.

“I like the idea, though. It gets us focused right away.”

As for other challenging matches, Pitt still has yet to defeat Big East opponent West Virgina after coming up short last season with a 4-3 loss to the Mountaineers. Dieffenbach said that each Big East match is equally important.

“Our motto for this season is ‘One shot at a time, one match at a time,'” he said.