University of South Florida
Notre Dame
Bulls Place Second in BIG EAST
April 20, 2008 | Women's Tennis
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TAMPA, Fla. ? The University of South Florida women's tennis team came up short in their title defense, losing a hard-fought match to the No. 1 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4-1 in the title match of the 2008 BIG EAST Tennis Championships held in Tampa, Fla.
“We had a great season and a great tournament,” said USF head coach Agustin Moreno. “Notre Dame is really tough and that's why they are one of the highest ranked teams in the nation. I believe we were very close to repeating, we just needed a few matches to swing our way. I was happy with the way we played and fought today.”
The Bulls feel behind the Irish early when the doubles tandem of Kelcy Tefft and Brook Buck clinched the point at the No. 1 singles spot with their 8-5 victory over Janette Bejlkova and Iciri Rai of USF.
Notre Dame took control of the match in singles taking a 3-0 lead with victories at the Nos. 3 and 2 positions.
Freshman Natalia Guevara cut the deficit to two with her straight-set victory over Katie Potts 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 6 spot.
With Bejlkova and Rai about to seal matches at courts one and five, Notre Dame junior Colleen Rielley clinched the championship with her 6-3, 6-4 victory over Liz Cruz.
“I'm extremely proud of the way everyone played this year,” added Moreno. “Everyone came together as a team and if it wasn't someone's day, another person stepped up. This team is ready to make it far into the NCAA tournament.”
USF finished the season with an 18-6 dual-match record and will wait and see if they are chosen as an at-large bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I women's tennis championships. The selection announcements will air between 2 and 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, April 29, on ESPNews. In addition, the ESPNews audio signal is available on the ESPNews channel on XM Radio and SIRIUS Radio.
NCAA Women's Tennis
2008 BIG EAST Championships
Tampa, Fla.
No. 1 Notre Dame, 4 vs. No. 3 USF, 1
Doubles
1. Tefft/Buck (ND) vs. Bejlkova/Rai (USF), 8-5
2. Ciobanu/Rielley (ND) vs. Shumate/Zok (USF), 8-2
3. Krisik/Rafael (ND) vs. Cruz/Guevara (USF), 7-5 DNF
Singles
1. Kelcy Tefft (ND) vs. Janette Bejlkova (USF), 4-6, 4-2 DNF
2. Brook Buck (ND) def. Jessica Zok (USF), 6-3, 6-3
3. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) def. Allyn Mueller (USF), 6-2, 6-4
4. Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Liz Cruz (USF), 6-3, 6-4
5. Kali Krisik (ND) vs. Iciri Rai (USF), 6-2, 3-6, 0-4 DNF
6. Natalia Guevara (USF) def. Katie Potts (ND), 6-3, 6-2
