RICHMOND, Va. (February 25, 2007) ? The University of South Florida women's tennis team concluded its weekend road trip with two top-30 teams by defeating 14th ranked Virginia Commonwealth, 4-2 Sun. afternoon. 

The victory was USF's (4-2) first of the year both on the road and over a ranked opponent.  It snaps the Rams' (12-3) four match win streak and hands them their third loss of the season.

"Today we had our biggest win of the year and probably of the school history," said head coach Agustin Moreno.  "We beat VCU, who are ranked #14 in the latest ranking and who reached the NCAA final 16 last year."

The Bulls gained all of their points in singles action as Shadisha Robinson, Jessica Sweeting, Liz Cruz and Gabriela Duch all picked up victories.  The win gives Sweeting an overall record of 5-1 on the year. 

The road trip began on a sour note, with the Bulls falling to No. 30 Kentucky, 5-2 on Fri. in Lexington. 

The Wildcats' formidle doubles combo of Joelle Schwenk and Kim Coventry, ranked second nationally, knocked off USF's 22nd ranked pair, Robinson and Duch, 8-2 from the No. 1 spot.  The loss is the pair's first of the year.  Kentucky then seized the doubles point with Carolina Escamilla and Sarah Woestmann fending off Courtney Vernon and Jessica Sweeting, 9-7 at No. 2.

Robinson avenged her doubles loss by defeating Coventry 6-0, 6-2 as she returned to the No. 1 singles spot after a two-match strech of playing at the second position.  Vernon was not so fortunate, falling to Schwenk 6-3, 6-1 for her first dual singles loss in more than a year.  The Solon, Ohio native was a perfect 20-0 in dual play last season, and was undefeated this year heading into Friday's match.

Despite two 7-0 wins last week, the Bulls (4-2) fell two spots in the most recent ITA/FILA national rankings, from 30th to 32nd.  Senior Shadisha Robinson also saw her top-10 preseason ranking fall from 10th to 25th.  Junior Courtney Vernon remained steady at 57th, as did Robinson and doubles partner Gabriela Duch at 22nd.

The women will return home Sat., Mar. 3 to welcome BIG EAST opponent West Virginia in one of only two conference matchups scheduled this season.  Match time is set for 11 a.m.  Admission to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts is free.

No. 30 Kentucky 5, No. 32 USF 2 / Feb. 23 Lexington, Ky.

Doubles
1) No. 2 Coventry/Schwenk (UK) def. No. 22 Robinson/Duch (USF), 8-2
2) Escamilla/Woestmann (UK) def. Vernon/Sweeting (USF), 9-7
3) Cruz/Rai (USF) def. Spencer/Winebrenner(UK), 8-6

Singles
1) No. 25 Shadisha Robinson (USF) def. Kim Coventry (UK), 6-0, 6-2
2) Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. No. 57 Courtney Vernon (USF), 6-3, 6-1
3) Jessica Sweeting (USF) def. Carolina Escamilla (UK), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4) Sarah Woestmann (UK) def. Liz Cruz (USF), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
5) Whitney Spencer (UK) def. Gabriela Duch (USF), 7-5, 6-3
6) Jessica Giuggioli (UK) def. Iciri Rai (USF), 6-3, 7-5

No. 32 USF 4, No. 14 VCU 2 / Feb. 25 Richmond, Va.
Doubles
1) Yuferova/Borisova (VCU) def. Robinson/Duch, 8-3
2) Leonchuk/Petrashevitch (VCU) def. Vernon/Sweeting, 8-3
3) Cruz/Rai (USF) led Klokotzky/Konstantinova, 4-3 DNF
Singles
1) No. 25 Shadisha Robinson (USF) def. Marianna Yuferova, 6-3, 7-5
2) Olga Borisova (VCU) def. Courtney Vernon, 7-6 (4), 6-3
3) Jessica Sweeting (USF) def. Maria Klokotzky, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2
4) Liz Cruz (USF) def. Viktoria Konstantinova, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
5) Gabriela Duch (USF) def. Vera Petrashevitch, 6-2, 6-2
6) Olena Leonchuk (VCU) led Iciri Rai, 6-2, 3-3 DNF