Tennis falls to West Virginia but edges Villanova in season finale

The Pitt women’s tennis team (9-11 overall, 1-6 Big East) fell to the West Virginia… The Pitt women’s tennis team (9-11 overall, 1-6 Big East) fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers last Thursday, but ended their season the next day with a win over Big East foe Villanova to close out the regular season.

West Virginia 7, Pitt 0

It was an historic day for the Mountaineers, who improved their record to 14-6, the most wins ever posted in a single spring season, after defeating the Panthers at the Mountaineer Tennis Complex in Morgantown, W.Va., For the Panthers, though, the loss meant no chance of finishing their season at .500.

Pitt lost the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches, leaving West Virginia to take the doubles point and start the match ahead 1-0.

Raynie Theis and Monica Lyskawa outlasted Pitt’s Jill Williams and Annie Davies to take the No. 1-seeded match 8-6. At the No. 2 spot, Leah Friedman and Davies picked up a match for the Panthers, defeating Stacey Percival and Natalia Prinz 8-5. Konita Jude and Carlie Smith dropped the third doubles match to the Mountaineers’ Kelly Walsh and Catherine Koontz 8-1. The Mountaineers went on to sweep all six doubles matches on the afternoon.

Welsh, West Virginia’s top seed, downed Williams 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot. In the second singles match, Prinz defeated Davies in a tight match that ended 7-5, 6-1.

Lyskawa took the No. 3 singles match for West Virginia, beating Friedman 6-0, 6-1, while Gerber won the No. 4 match over Hughes 6-4, 6-2. West Virginia’s Colleen Speaker played at No. 5 against Smith, beating her 6-2, 6-1, and Percival took the No. 6 match over Jude 6-1, 6-0.

Pitt 5, Villanova 2

The Panthers fared better the following day against Villanova, sweeping the doubles matches and winning four singles matches to end the season with their sole conference win.

Williams and Hughes teamed up at No. 1 doubles against the Wildcats’ Candice Carlin and Courtney Flezzani for a strong 8-5 win. Williams and Hughes finished the season 7-13 in doubles play.

Davies and Friedman played at No. 2, defeating Morgan Flezzani and Melissa Reed, 8-3, to secure the doubles point. At the No. 3 spot, Smith and Jude wrapped up doubles play with an 8-6 win over Villanova’s Reilly and Puchyr.

In singles play, Davies finalized her sophomore season with a 15-12 record, recording an impressive win at the No. 2 singles spot over Courtney Flezzani. She capped off the season by being named the team’s MVP for the season.

The Panthers also picked up a win at the No. 4 spot after Hughes defeated Morgan Flezzani 6-2, 6-2. Hughes also increased her season record to 18-10 with the win. Smith (15-11) defeated Puchyr at No. 5 singles, in a hard-fought match that ended 6-2, 7-6. Jude picked up the final match for the Panthers in the sixth singles match, where she rolled over the Wildcat’s Zoe Murray, 6-1, 6-0.

Williams lost in a tough match against Carlin 6-3, 6-1 in her last match at Pitt. Friedman dropped a match at the No. 3 spot against Reilly 6-1, 6-0, but still ended the season above .500 with a 15-14 record.

The Panthers ended their spring season with a 9-11 record and only one conference victory, but the season produced a new name in the Pitt 100-victory club (Senior Jill Williams), a few individual winning records and new prospects for a winning record next spring.

Editor’s Note: Head coach George Dieffenbach could not be reached for comment on these matches.