Pitt women’s tennis shuts out Robert Morris

The Pitt women’s tennis team swept all nine matches against Robert Morris Monday with a 7-0… The Pitt women’s tennis team swept all nine matches against Robert Morris Monday with a 7-0 win, taking the Panthers (3-4) one step closer to a .500 record.

“The team keeps improving,” head coach George Dieffenbach said. “A major goal of the team this season is to finish with a winning record and we are on our way.”

Another goal of the team is to qualify for the championship, which could be in reach considering the records that the players hold so far.

Pitt took all three doubles matches, capturing the doubles point to start the match 1-0. Pitt’s Jill Williams and Emily Hughes won against Renee James and Sarah Hancock in the No. 1 doubles spot, 8-2.

In No. 2 doubles, the Panthers refused to give up any points when Becky Emmers and Annie Davies won 8-0 against Robert Morris’ Katie Skopinski and Mary Esch. Emmers and Davies are 5-3 in doubles matches this year.

The Panthers shut out the Colonials again in the third doubles match. Pitt’s Leah Friedman and senior Konita Jude combined for an 8-0 win against Lauren Dominijanni and Danielle Hunter.

Pitt made winning look easy through doubles and singles play, but a shutout win is not always as simple as it sounds, Dieffenbach explained.

“This team was much improved this year.” Dieffenbach said of Robert Morris, “Final scores can be deceiving. You can have a lot of long, hard points and a long, hard match, and end up with a shutout.” Dieffenbach was pleased with the efforts of the Panthers, especially in singles.

Williams captured the No. 1 point in singles against the Colonials’ James, with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout. Her doubles and singles wins pushed her career total to 98 victories.

“She has the chance to take her record to 100 [wins] next week,” Dieffenbach said. “It would be an exciting point in her career.”

In No. 2 singles, Emmers captured a 6-1, 6-1 win against the Colonials’ Skopinski. The Colonials’ Hancock also fell to the Panthers when Davies pulled out a 6-0, 6-1 win in the No. 3 spot. Davies is back at .500 after the win, with a 7-7 singles record for the season.

With an 11-5 singles record, Friedman is making a habit of winning. That habit certainly wasn’t broken on Monday when she swept the No. 4 singles match, 6-0, 6-0. Dieffenbach cannot help but notice the promise Friedman shows.

“She is a young player. It’s a good record,” he said, adding, “A very good record for a freshman.”

Hughes also improved her record to 11-4, after a strong win in the No. 5 spot. Hughes matched up with Dominijanni and cruised right through to a 6-0, 6-0 win. At No. 6, Smith wrapped up the winning streak and added the sixth shutout of the match for the Panthers for a 6-0, 6-0 win against the Colonials’ Hunter. Smith also pulled her singles record past .500 to 7-6 with the win.

Dieffenbach only had good things to say about the match.

“The team held good intensity, did not let up, and stayed strong through every point,” he said, adding that the match gave the girls confidence that will be useful against their next opponent, Bucknell.

The Panthers will enjoy a relaxed pace, coming off of an excellent win, Dieffenbach said, but Dieffenbach looks forward to a close match against the Bison and has a strong game plan going into the match.

“Our strategy for Bucknell,” Dieffenbach explained, “is to produce a high first-serve percentage, try to hit a lot of service winners, reduce the number of unforced errors we hit, focus on holding serve and breaking serve and, as always, get that doubles point. It’s going to be a dog fight.”

The match against Bucknell is slated for March 5 and will begin at 2 p.m.