With talented upperclassmen returning and a first-rate recruiting class coming in, the Pitt… With talented upperclassmen returning and a first-rate recruiting class coming in, the Pitt women’s tennis team continues to be faced with increasing expectations.

The team is, however, considerably young, with four freshmen and three sophomores, but with the recent completion of the shortened fall season, it is safe to assume that their current odds are promising and the future ones outstanding.

“Our large number of underclassmen is not an issue because most of them have been playing in junior tournaments for many years now,” head coach George Dieffenbach said. “We have freshmen at our number one, two and seven positions. It obviously was a good recruiting year, and our future is excellent.”

Dieffenbach, the winningest tennis coach in Pitt history, is now entering his 25th year as the women’s tennis coach. After three decades dedicated to coaching, Dieffenbach knows good players when he sees them, which is why he has not hesitated to promote freshmen to the top two singles positions on the team.

This fall, his team competed in five competitions which count toward a player’s individual record, but not the team’s (the regular season begins in the spring). In their inaugural contest, the Panthers participated in the four-team CMU Invitational. Pitt’s highly touted, No. 1singles player, Kristy Borza, saw her first collegiate action in the invitational. As she was accustomed to doing in high school, Borza swept the floor with her competitors, going 3-0 to win the Flight 1 singles championship. In the Flight 3 competition, Emily Hughes also went 3-0, defeating fellow Panther Carlie Smith in the championship game.

The Panthers’ next matches took them to Lewisburg, Pa., for the eight-team Bucknell University Invitational. The team returned home with two titles, one in doubles and one in singles. The singles title again went to Borza, who ran her record to a perfect 7-0 in the process. The victorious doubles team consisted of Kimberly Harclerode and Carlie Smith, who defeated Villanova (8-2) and Toledo (8-6) to claim the title in Flight B.

Pitt then traveled to Morgantown, W.Va., to take part in the eight-team Martha Thorn Invitational held on the campus of WVU. Because of inclement weather, however, only doubles action was played. The team of Kristy Borza and Leah Friedman advanced to the championship game of the Flight A bracket, but fell to West Virginia. In Flight C, Carlie Smith and Kimberley Harclerode outlasted Toledo and Bucknell but also dropped the title game to WVU.

Pitt got back on the winning track in the Hampton Roads Invitational held in Newport News, Va. The doubles team of Kimberly Harclerode and Carlie Smith combined to win the Doubles C title, defeating Big East foe Georgetown in the championship game 8-1. The B-1 doubles team of Kristy Borza and Annie Davies also made it to the final round, but fell to Old Dominion, 8-5, in the final game. Jenna Suffoletto went 2-1 in D-2 singles action and won the consolation championship game. Also of importance, Borza suffered her first collegiate defeat in the invitational, falling to eventual champ and the No. 23rd-ranked Megan Moulton-Levy of William and Mary.

“Borza lost her first match to the No. 23 nationally ranked Moulton-Levy, but it was very promising to see her fight back and take her to the tie break,” her coach said.

Most recently, select members of the team competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships in West Point, N.Y. The No. 1 singles and doubles teams were invited to participate, meaning Borza, Friedman and Hughes earned valuable experience against high-caliber competition. The lone Pitt singles representative, Borza, defeated Jennifer Dent of Maryland (6-0, 6-3) in the first round, but fell to third-seeded Milena Kachar of Columbia in the second. Borza’s singles’ record stands at 9-2 at the end of fall play. In doubles action, Friedman and Hughes dropped their opening match to a duo from Siena College, 8-5.

The ITA Championship was the last competition of the fall for the Panthers, who now get a break before coach Dieffenbach’s intra-squad tournament in January and the conference opener on Feb. 4 against Cincinnati.

“The mini-tournament we have is used to get the girls ready for the regular season, and hopefully by then we should get back Becky Emmers, Michele Petrasko and Christie Dachille from injury. We have had a good fall and we should have a fun spring, but we need to do well in that first match against Cincinnati and then in all of the following Big East games.”