University of South Florida
Notre Dame
USF WoMen's Tennis Earns Runner-Up At BIG EAST Championships
April 23, 2006 | Women's Tennis
Tampa, Fla. (April 23, 2006) ? In its first year as a member of the BIG EAST Conference, the USF women's tennis team finished runner-up to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, who took the very competitive finals match 4-1 from the Bulls
Notre Dame jumped out to an early lead by taking the top two doubles matches to receive the doubles point.
No. 6 ranked Katrina and Christian Thompson were too much for No. 10 Gabriela Duch and Neyssa Etienne as the sisters from Notre Dame out dueled the USF duo, 8-3.
Brook Buck and Kelay Tefft clinched the doubles point with their win over Liz Cruz and Iciri Rai, 8-4.
In singles competition, USF only managed to come away with only one victory. No. 57 ranked Courtney Vernon defeated No. 99 Christian Thompson at the No. 2 singles spot, 6-3, 6-0. Vernon capped off her perfect season going 18-0 in spring dual matches.
USF will now wait to see if they have been selected for the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament. The selection announcements will take place on Wednesday, May 3 on ESPNEWS at approximately 8:45 p.m. ET.
Team brackets will be posted on the NCAA websites (www.NCAAsports.com and www.ncaa.org) shortly after the completion of the televised announcement.
The list of individuals selected to the singles and doubles championships will be posted on both websites on Thursday, May 4.
Be sure to check back to www.GoUSFBulls.com for the latest women's tennis news.
NCAA Women's Tennis
BIG EAST Championship Finals
No. 2 Notre Dame 4, No. 37 USF Bulls 1
April 23, 2006
USF Varsity Tennis Courts
Doubles
1. No. 6 Thompson/Thompson (ND) def. No. 10 Duch/Etienne (USF) 8-3
2. Buck/Tefft (ND) def. Cruz/Rai (USF) 8-4
3. Vernon/Obando (USF) vs. Connelly/Stanstny (ND) 4-5 DNF\
Singles
1. No. 31 Catrina Thompson (ND) def. No. 64 Neyssa Etienne (USF) 6-2, 6-2
2. No. 57 Courtney Vernon (USF) def. No. 99 Christian Thompson (USF) 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 75 Liz Cruz vs. No. 80 Brook Buck (ND) 3-6, 5-4 DNF
4. Gabriela Duch (USF) vs. Kelay Tefft (ND) 5-7, 5-1 DNF\
5. Kiki Stanstny (ND) def. Iciri Rai (USF) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1*
6. Lauren Connelly def. Luisa Obando (USF) 7-6 (2), 6-3
* Clinching Match
