Pitt
Cincinnati
Catanzariti Earns a Win in No. 1 Singles
3/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 12, 2011
PITTSBURGH—Sophomore Gabrielle Catanzariti earned a singles win this afternoon, as the University of Pittsburgh women’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to Cincinnati, at the Alpha Tennis & Fitness Club. The Panthers slipped to 4-6 on the year and 0-3 in the Big East, while the Bearcats improved to 4-10 overall and 3-3 in the league.
Pitt lost the doubles point to open the match. Playing up, the No. 1 pairing of freshmen Jocelyn Lu and Kimmy Borza has their win streak snapped at three as a result. The duo won the first game of the match to lead 1-0. They would then split the following games and maintain a one-point lead at 7-6. However, momentum would shift and Cincinnati’s No. 1s tied the match at seven and then held on to win the tiebreaker.
Junior Minh Evans and sophomore Karma Parbhu played together in No. 3 singles for the first time since the fall. The pair won three games in the match.
In No. 2 doubles, Catanzariti and freshman Taylor Washington won four games together.
As the contest continued, the Bearcats built upon their lead and won the first three singles matches that were completed.
The next match to finish was at No. 1 singles, where Catanzariti provided the Panthers with a highlight as she swept her opponent Ksenia Slynko in a pair of 6-3 sets.
“The Panthers competed hard today,” Head Coach George Dieffenbach said. “We witnessed a great win by Gabi, who played up in No. 1 singles. That was her best match of the year against a tough opponent. It was a high-quality victory.”
Catanzariti trailed early in the first set, but battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the contest. She swept the final two games to win that set. In her second set she simply out-played Slynko and won several long volleys.
In the remaining two singles matches, Lu and Borza battled back from first-set losses to force tiebreakers. Lu was the first to enter her decider, but fell 10 games to four.
Evenly matched, Borza’s whole match against Ashleigh Witte was a back-and-forth nail biter. Fresh off the tiebreaker in doubles, she played an extra game in her first set. Borza fell 7-5 in that set, but fought back to flip the score in her second set victory. However, she would be outlasted 10-8 in the deciding set.
The Panthers are home at Alpha Tennis & Fitness Club on Monday, March 14, in a noon contest against Providence.
Doubles
1 O’Gara/Lonergan (UC) def. Lu/Borza (Pitt), 8-7 (3)
2. Slynko/Witte (UC) def. Catanzariti/ Taylor Washington (Pitt), 8-4
3. Lee/Tsmail (UC) def Parbhu/Evans (Pitt), 8-3
Singles
1. Gabrielle Catanzariti (Pitt) def. Ksenia Slynko (UC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Jasmine Lee (UC) def. Jocelyn Lu (Pitt) 6-4, 1-6, 10-4
3. Ashleigh Witte (UC) def. Kimmy Borza (Pitt) 7-5, 5-7, 10-8
4. Caitlin O’Gara (UC) def. Karma Parbhu (Pitt) 6-1, 6-1
5. Lindsey Lonergan (UC) def. Brittney Russell (Pitt) 7-5, 6-1
6. Carly Wilson (UC) def. Minh Evans (Pitt) 6-1, 6-0
