Pitt
Youngstown State
Women's Tennis Earns A Win Over Youngstown State
3/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 30, 2011
PITTSBURGH—Five Panthers claim straight-set victories in singles play, as the University of Pittsburgh women’s tennis team defeated Youngstown State, 6-1, at Alpha Tennis and Fitness Club this afternoon. The Panthers improve to 7-8 on the year, while the Penguins slipped to 4-7 overall.
Pitt won the doubles point with victories in No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. For the second consecutive match, the doubles team of freshmen Jocelyn Lu and Kimmy Borza were the first to finish. Pitt’s No. 2s swept the first three games of their match before dropping two. The pair continued to pull away and led 6-3 before earning the eventual win at 8-3.
Then in No. 1 doubles, the duo of senior Elizabeth Adams and sophomore Gabrielle Catanzariti battled back in their match to give the Panther the doubles point. The pair trailed 5-3 early on. However, the two focused and rallied to take a slight lead at 7-6 in the contest. Following a change of serve, Pitt won the final game with a match score of 8-6.
In the final doubles match, junior Minh Evans and freshman Taylor Washington dropped a close back-and-forth contest. After falling in the first game, the No. 3 team swept the next two. They then split the next four games and led 4-3 in the match. However, the Penguins pair would fight back and take two games for a 5-4 advantage.
Later, a great return from Washington won the first point of the 10th game. As the contest continued, Washington would put the game away with a swing that tied the match at 5-5. A few volleys later, one of the YSU threes attempted a short lob that didn’t clear the net to give the Panthers a 6-5 advantage. However, with the next court change, the Penguins battled back and led 7-6. YSU would then hold on for the eventual win at 9-7.
Later in singles competition, many were moving into their second sets while sophomore Karma Parbhu was wrapping up No. 5 singles in relentless fashion. She jumped out the gate winning the first three games and continued to record her sixth straight-set victory of the season.
In No. 3 singles, Lu gave up one game in each of her sets. She led 3-0 in the second set after hitting a winner down the opposite line. Her opponent made an attempt on the ball but it was well out of reach. As the match continued, Lu won the contest when she out-smarted her opponent with a soft touch that dropped the ball right over the net.
No. 2 singles, Catanzariti won her first three games in the first set. She then split the next two games before taking the set at 6-2. Catanzariti won the second set with the same score to earn her ninth singles win of the season.
Despite the score, freshman Brittney Russell played a competitive match. She won her first set and led 5-0 before giving up a game. Then in the second set, she simply outlasted her opponent to win in two sets.
Borza earned the final singles victory of the day for the Panthers. She was leading 4-3 in her first set, but had to play to seven to secure the win. Borza claimed her sixth straight-set victory of the season a few games later when she caught her opponent off balance.
The Panthers resume Big East play on Saturday, April 2, when they travel to Morgantown, W.Va. for a neutral site contest against Rutgers at 1 p.m.
Doubles
1 Adams/Catanzariti (Pitt) def. Sadounikova/Sjokust (YSU) 8-6
2 Lu/Borza (Pitt) def. Puppo/Silva (YSU) 8-3
3 Jesko/Patten (YSU) def. Evans/ Taylor Washington (Pitt) 9-7
Singles
1 Margarita Sadounikova (YSU) def. Elizabeth Adams (Pitt)
2 Gabrielle Catanzariti (Pitt) vs. Carolyn Jesko (YSU) 6-2, 6-2
3 Jocelyn Lu (Pitt) vs. G Puppo (YSU) 6-1, 6-1
4 Kimmy Borza (Pitt) vs. Karolina Sjokust (YSU) 7-5, 6-4
5 Karma Parbhu (Pitt) def. Hannah Patten (YSU) 6-1, 6-0
6 Brittney Russell (Pitt) def. Danielle Silva (YSU) 6-1, 6-4
