TAMPA- Looking for their first win of the 2009 season, the University of South Florida women's tennis team returned home to the USF Varsity Tennis courts and found exactly what they were looking for. The Bulls, ranked No. 69 in the latest ITA rankings, were dominant as they laid claim to their first victory by defeating No. 55 Eastern Michigan, 6-1 under clear blue skies Monday afternoon.
The Bulls came out fast looking to take the early lead by taking the doubles point. For the first time this season, USF won the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. The Bulls would get their first victory of the day from their No. 3 pairing of Allyn Mueller and Lauren Shumate. The duo easily took care of Marcela Rivero and Rumbidzai Muskwe, 8-0. In the No. 1 slot, the Bulls would get another 8-0 victory from Jessica Zok and Iciri Rai as they defeated the EMU pairing of Joanna Woo and Xu Chang.
Natalia Guevara and Jessica Sweeting would complete the doubles sweep by holding off Miriam Westerink and Karina Ahuja, 8-6, to put a punctuation mark on the doubles point giving the Bulls the early 1-0 lead.
Needing just three wins to capture the dual victory, USF would get that and more. The first singles victory came from Shumate in the No. 6 spot who would win the first set 6-2 over Muskwe, then Muskwe would retire with Shumate holding a 5-0 lead.
It would be Natalia Guevara pushing the lead to 3-0 with a straight set victory, 6-2, 6-0 over Woo and then it would be junior Allyn Mueller who would clinch the match with a 6-1, 6-2 straighth set victory over Rivero to give the Bulls their first victory of the season.
Jessica Sweeting and Iciri Rai would then cap off the Bulls victory with wins in the No. 2 and 3 positions. Sweeting defeated Ahuja 6-0, 6-2 and Rai would use straight sets to defeat Chang, 6-0, 6-1 to close out the match with a 6-1 victory.
USF, now 1-5 on the season, will look for victories two and three on the road as they travel to the "Lone Star State" for a pair of matches against Texas A & M in College Station on February 27 at 6 p.m. and then will take on the University of Texas in Austin on Sunday, March 1 at Noon.
USF(1-5) 6, EMU 1
February 23, 2009
USF Varsity Tennis Courts-Tampa, Fla.
Doubles
1. Zok/Rai (USF) def. Chang/Woo 8-0
2. Guevara/Sweeting (USF) def. Westerink/Ahuja 8-6
3. Mueller/Shumate (USF) def. Rivero/ Muske 8-0
Order- 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Westerink def. Jessica Zok (USF) 6-1, 6-4
2. Jessica Sweeting (USF) def. Ahuja 6-0,6-2
3. Iciri Rai (USF) def. Chang 6-2, 6-0. Natalia Guevara(USF) def. Woo 6-2, 6-0
5. Allyn Mueller (USF) def. Rivero 6-1, 6-2
6. Lauren Shumate (USF) def. Muskwe 6-2, 5-0 (ret.)
Order- 6, 4, 5, 2, 3, 1.
