TAMPA, Fla. - After losing three of the squad's top returning players, the University of South Florida women's tennis team finished runner-up to Notre Dame and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In their three years in the BIG EAST Conference, the Bulls have placed second twice and won the championship in 2007, all under head coach Agustin Moreno. The Bulls remained in the national spotlight throughout the year, being ranked as high as No. 29 out of 300 Division I schools.
“Coming into the beginning of the season, we lost key members to our 2007 championship team in Shadisha Robinson and Gabriela Duch to graduation and Courtney Vernon going pro, but I feel the girls responded well and stepped up through out the season,” said Moreno. “Taking that into account, being ranked in the top 40 out of 300 Division I collegiate teams is a great achievement.”
For the third year in a row, the Bulls received a bid to the NCAA Tournament after a strong performance in the BIG EAST Championships. In the first round, the Bulls breezed by the Syracuse Orange by a score of 4-0 to advance to take on rival Louisville. The win was the second victory of the season for the Bulls against the Orange.
After suffering a defeat at the hands of the Cardinals earlier in the year in Louisville, Ky., the Bulls came into the semifinal match with something to prove. USF took care of its conference rival in impressive fashion, 4-1, and earned the right to face Notre Dame in the championship match.
Facing the Irish for the third time in three years in the finals, USF came into the match with confidence after defeating the No. 2 ranked Irish in 2007 to win USF's first ever BIG EAST Championship in any sport.
The Bulls fell 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. 2 and 3 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 was extremely proud of the way everyone played this year,” said Moreno. “Everyone came together as a team and if it wasn't someone's day, another person stepped up.”
The NCAA selection committee once again took notice of a USF program on the rise and was awarded a spot in the NCAA Tournament to face the No. 19 Texas Longhorns in the Tallahassee regional.
The doubles point was a battle with the teams splitting the first two matches before Texas captured the final match 8-6 to move ahead 1-0. Texas clinched the win by winning the first three singles matches with victories at No. 2, 3 and 6 singles.
Bulls' freshman sensation Janette Bejlkova, ranked No. 72 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, was in a tight match at No. 1 singles with Texas' 63rd-ranked Vanja Corovic. Bejlkova dropped the first set 6-4 and was tied 5-5 in the second set and held an advantage in her game.
Fellow freshman Natalia Guevara and junior Iciri Rai were both in third sets of their respective matches, with Guevara up 1-0 in the third and Rai just getting ready to start her third set when the Longhorns clinched the win.
“I am very proud of their effort during the season and the second place finish in the BIG EAST.” said Moreno. “Our goal next season is to win the BIG EAST again and to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. We're going to work very hard to improve in the off season. I don't think we underachieved at all this season.”
The Bulls finished the regular season with an 18-7 record, defeating four ranked opponents (Ohio State, Dartmouth, FIU, and Louisville) and never dropped a match to a team that was ranked out of the top 40 in the country.
The team was led by freshman Janette Bejlkova who shined with a perfect 16-0 record in dual-match competition at the top singles spot. During the year, she defeated four ranked opponents from schools such as Notre Dame, Georgia, FIU and Kentucky and was ranked as high as No. 49 in the country.
“Janette played great all season, not losing a match,” said Moreno. “She didn't make the NCAAs this year but next year I'm sure she will be there.”
The next two spots in the line up were filled by two transfers who joined Moreno's squad at the beginning of the season.
Sophomore Jessica Zok, who transferred from Baylor, compiled an overall dual-match record of 15-7, with 11 of those wins coming at the No. 2 spot while Ally Mueller, a transfer from Ohio State, held down the Nos. 3 and 4 positions and finished the season with an overall dual-match record of 11-9.
“Jessica was unbelievable playing at No. 2. She won a lot of big matches there,” said Moreno. “Ally beat a very tough girl from Louisville and she really stepped up when we needed her.”
The third to transfer to the Bulls is sophomore Lauren Shumate who comes to USF from Purdue University. Shumate was primarily a doubles specialist during the year, stepping up big with an 8-5 doubles record playing three different partners.
“Lauren was a breath of fresh air in doubles. She really did a nice job filling in there while getting some key victories for this team,” added Moreno.
Senior Liz Cruz and junior Iciri Rai provided veteran leadership for a young Bulls team.
Cruz finished her career at USF with an overall record of 17-11 her senior year while Rai put together an impressive junior campaign at 17-5 playing at the Nos. 4 and 5 spots.
“The leadership and experience that these two girls brought to the team were invaluable this season,” said Moreno. “I can't say enough about how each of them handled the season.”
Filling the Nos. 5 and 6 spots in the line up was sophomore Natalia Guevara. Guevara finished with a 14-6 record in her second year with the Bulls, picking up key wins in USF's BIG EAST Championship matches against Syracuse and Notre Dame.
“She responded well beating the girl from Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Championships and I look for her to have a big year next year and to gain on the experience she received playing tennis at a high level,” said Moreno.
“We have a bright future with seven girls coming back from last year's team and my recruiting efforts going well,” added Moreno. I feel confident about next season being a great one at USF. We are going to be more experienced and this team has a lot of talent. I need to make sure that I bring in girls who have a positive attitude towards the team and winning and we should be successful next year.”
