Tennis: Pitt drops pair of home matches against top-ranked teams

Pitt tennis hosted a pair of Top-10 opponents at Alpha Tennis and Fitness in Harmar, Pa., and dropped each match by a 6-1 tally to No. 8 North Carolina on Friday and No. 1 Duke on Sunday. The highlight of the weekend was freshman Lolade Ogungbesan’s Sunday victory against Duke’s Hanna Mar, the nation’s No. 31-ranked singles player. 

North Carolina 6, Pitt 1

The Tar Heels got out to a 5-0 lead and sealed their match win before Pitt senior Taylor Washington pulled off an upset against No. 47 Whitney Kay in singles play. 

In doubles, Washington and Audrey Ann Blakely fell to the No. 11-ranked tandem of Kay and Caroline Price, while Ashley Dai and Tessa Lyons defeated Molly Wickman and Kimmy Borza 8-2 to claim the doubles point. Jocelyn Lu and Ogungbesan had their match halted against Jamie Loeb and Laura Slater after the two Tar Heel victories decided the doubles point. 

Washington and Blakely pushed their highly ranked opponents to a tiebreaker, but lost 7-5 in extra play as Kay and Price took a 8-7 victory. Washington earned revenge in singles play against Kay, winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. 

Washington said a key factor behind her victory was the mentality she carried into the match, and she said she tried not to think about her opponent’s ranking, but instead, her own game.

“I tried to focus on myself and not on her, and I really think that helped me propel myself to get the win,” Washington said.

Her head coach, Alex Santos, was also pleased with the way Washington composed herself on the court. 

“I think she understood that she had the ball on her strings, that she was playing really well, and if she was able to stay composed and fight and believe, she would get the score and the result that she was looking for,” Santos said. 

But by the time Washington’s match ended, the Panthers already faced an insurmountable deficit because she was the only Panther to win a set against her opposition. 

Loeb, the No. 1-ranked singles player in the nation, took Blakely out 6-3, 6-1, while Dai, Lyons, Slater and Kate Vialle all won in straight sets. 

Duke 6, Pitt 1

On Sunday, the Duke Blue Devils visited Pittsburgh and cruised to a match victory. The Panthers’ doubles teams lost by scores of 8-2 and 8-1 as Duke took the doubles point. 

In singles play, Ogungbesan was the only player to notch a point for Pitt with her victory against Mar in three sets by a 1-6, 6-4, 10-7 tally. Assistant coach Emily Fraser said the freshman became more aggressive on the court and adjusted in the second set to overcome a slow start.

“There was a point there, towards the end of the second set, where she found a different kind of intensity and really placed a high priority on being aggressive and looking to take her first opportunity,” Fraser said. “I think that ultimately led her to be able to win that match.”

Not only did her mentality change, but Ogungbesan said she also adjusted her emotions to elevate her level of play.

“I started off really slowly,” Ogungbesan said. “In the second set, I was down as well, and my emotions were all over the place, but Emily was trying to help me stay calm and remind me that I should be like, more aggressive in the points and things like that.”

But Ogungbesan was the only triumphant Panther, as each other Pitt player lost. Washington took the first set of her match with Chalena Scholl, 6-2, but lost her lead as Scholl responded with emphatic 6-2, 6-1 wins in the final two sets of the match.