Pitt tennis double faults, drops pair

For Pitt tennis, long-standing program records are no match for this year’s squad.

One… For Pitt tennis, long-standing program records are no match for this year’s squad.

One week after senior Annie Davies edged out the 10-year-old all-time win record, set by Fran Davis at 164, sophomore Kristy Borza decided to make her own mark.

At an away match against Duquesne at Club 4 Life last Wednesday, Davies earned the record for single-season wins with 27 total, besting Maria Paris’ record from 1978.

However, Davies’ success couldn’t save the Panthers from a 4-3 loss to Duquesne.

Two days later, Pitt again failed to hold off conference rival Rutgers in its final match of the season in Morgantown, W.Va., leaving the Panthers with a 10-7 final record.

Duquesne 4, Pitt 3

In her record-breaking singles match, Pitt’s No. 1 singles player, Borza, defeated Johanna Bezjak with ease, winning 6-3, 6-2.

This victory came minutes after Pitt’s crushing loss of the doubles point to the city rivals.

In doubles play, No. 1 team Borza and freshman Sabrina Visram fell 8-4 to opponents Rebecca Poole and Jacqueline Hughes.

Davies and teammate Christie D’achille then dropped the second doubles match in the same manner, 8-4, against Bezjak and Rachel McGowan.

Only the No. 3 Pitt slot Carlie Smith and Annie Piccirillo pulled out a win in doubles, taking a tiebreaker round, 9-8. Despite the two Panthers’ win, Duquesne stole the valuable doubles point, setting the match, along with Borza’s win, at 1-1.

Visram trumped Poole 6-4, 6-4. No. 4 D’achille had an easier time with her 6-2, 6-2 win against Alicia McNamara.

Smith and Davies couldn’t muster the strength to out-hit their opponents, though, leaving Pitt and Duquesne tied at the team score of 3-3.

Anna Broverman, a freshman filling the singles spot of injured player Leah Friedman, came back from Duquesne’s Andrea Sailer’s 6-0 win.

Broverman battled through a second set, holding onto a tie for six rounds, until she fell, along with Pitt’s chance at a team win, 7-6.

The 4-3 loss put the Panthers at 10-6.

Rutgers 6, Pitt 1

Borza and Visram got a 9-7 doubles win to begin the match.

But Pitt’s two other teams could not hold on to the overall doubles point, with the No. 2 squad of Davies and D’achille losing a tiebreaker match, and Piccirillo and Smith succumbing 8-1 in their set.

Borza, Smith, Visram, Davies and Broverman all failed to take their singles points, dropping four tiebreaker rounds.

Borza won her first set against Katrina Elder-Bush, 6-1. Then she suffered a 7-5 tiebreak loss in the second set. Elder-Bush took the third game, 6-1, and Pitt dropped the second team point to Rutgers.

Smith and Visram each won one set and lost one set in their matches, forcing both players into a third set for their individual point decisions.

Smith lost her tiebreaker, 7-6. Visram finished on the wrong side of a 7-5 score at the hands of Scarlet Knight Katherine Arlak.

Pitt’s No. 5 singles player D’achille posted the lone point for the Panthers on the day, boasting a 6-0 first round shutout of Lauren Edelschein. Their second-round score of 6-1 in Edelschein’s favor resulted in a tiebreaker.

D’achille got the win in the tiebreaker set, stealing a team point for Pitt.

The final score led Pitt to a 3-4 final record in the Big East.

Pitt now awaits an invitation to the Big East tournament, which begins next week.