Tennis falls victim to Connecticut, St. John’s

The Pitt women’s tennis team (8-10 overall, 0-5 Big East) dropped two Big East matches over… The Pitt women’s tennis team (8-10 overall, 0-5 Big East) dropped two Big East matches over the weekend at Crocheron Park in Bayside, NY. The Panthers lost their first match on Saturday to UConn, and were topped by St. John’s the next day.

Connecticut 4, Pitt 1

With two doubles wins to clinch the doubles point, Pitt started the match out right.

Pitt’s Jill Williams and Emily Hughes played at the No. 1 spot and were defeated by Whitney Simcik and Barbara Schumsky, 8-1. Leah Friedman and Annie Davies came back from being down in No. 2 doubles to win a tight match over the Huskies’ Jennifer LoRusso and Elizabeth Dibbs, 9-8 (7-4).

Carlie Smith and Konita Jude followed up with another win for the Panthers at No. 3 doubles. Smith and Jude impressed head coach George Dieffenbach with the 8-3 win over the Huskies’ Ashley Petruzzi and Christine Burek that clinched the doubles point for Pitt.

The Panthers were not as fortunate in singles play, however, losing the first four completed matches. The last two matches were stopped when Connecticut clinched the match with four wins.

Davies took on Simcik at the No. 2 singles spot and lost 6-2, 6-1. Schumsky swept Friedman at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0 and Hughes lost at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 7-5 to Burek.

Jude played Petruzzi and was defeated 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Jude was leading 4-1 in the first set, but sprained her ankle at the end of that set.

Williams played at the No. 1 spot in a heated match against LoRusso. Williams came back from being down 1-0 to 7-6 (7-3), but the match was pulled before ending. Smith’s match at No. 5 singles against Dibbs was also stopped early.

“Doubles has been one of our strong points this season,” Dieffenbach said. “Connecticut is a strong team, especially in singles, but we also need to work on singles.”

St. John’s 5, Pitt 1

The Panthers dropped their second match of the weekend on Sunday against a St. John’s team celebrating its senior day. Pitt lost every match until the final match, which Williams won in one of the most exciting matches of the season.

Williams played at No. 1 singles against St. Johns’ Barbora Blahutiakova in the final match to finish and put on a good show. Williams defeated Blahutiakova 6-1, 6-3 (14-12), and brought her record up to 11-15. Dieffenbach was very pleased with Williams’s performance.

“She played aggressive offense, forced a lot of errors of her opponent and battled to the end in a very close, thrilling match. It was just an outstanding match,” Dieffenbach said, who went on to call it one of her best matches of the year.

The Red Storm, however, swept through the doubles matches to take the point.

Williams teamed up with Hughes at No. 1 doubles and lost to Hande Gorur and Allison Davidson, 8-2. Lauren Leo and Mariana Chachua sealed the point for St. John’s with an 8-6 win at the No. 2 spot over Friedman and Davies. Smith and Jude also lost at the No. 3 spot to Kristina Bothova and Blahutiakova, 8-0.

Davies dropped the No. 2 singles match to Bothova, 6-0, 6-1, sealing the match for the Red Storm Despite the loss, Davies still maintains a 14-11 record on the season. Leo swept Friedman (15-12 overall) at No. 3, 6-0, 6-0. Hughes now holds a 17-9 record after losing to Gorur at the No. 4 spot, 6-1, 6-0, while Davidson defeated Smith 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot.

Because of her injury the day before, and the fact that St. John’s had already taken the match, Jude did not even start her match at No. 6 singles.

The Panthers will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., April 14 and 15 for their final two matches of the season against Big East foes West Virginia and Villanova.