TAMPA- The University of South Florida women's tennis team competed in its second straight home match on March 9 when they welcomed Yale to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts, and handing the Bulldogs a 5-2 loss.
Senior Lauren Shumate and redshirt sophomore Janette Bejlkova started things out for the Bulls, taking on Stephanie Kent and Jessica Rhee in the No. 2 doubles position. Shumate and Bejlkova fell to Kent and Rhee 8-1.
Senior Melissa Koning and junior Irene Rehberger competed in No. 1 doubles for USF against Vicky Brook and Lindsay Clark. Koning and Rehberger defeated Brook and Clark 8-1.
With each team having one doubles win under their belt, it all came down to the third doubles match. Senior Jessica Zok and junior Natalia Guevara competed in the No. 3 position for USF against Stevi Petrelli and Elizabeth Epstein. This was a back-and-forth match between the two teams with each team refusing to back down. Zok and Guevara were up 6-3 before Epstein and Petrelli came back and won the next game to make it 6-4. Guevara and Zok continued to battle hard, though, and they went on to win the next two games which gave them the 8-4 victory over the pair from Yale. That victory gave the Bulls the 1-0 advantage heading into singles.
Bejlkova started the singles competition out for the Bulls with a win. Bejlkova took on Rhee in the No. 3 singles position and Bejlkova took care of her opponent in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
Koning competed in the No. 2 singles for USF against Brook, losing in two sets 6-2, 6-3 which cut the Bulls lead back to one, 2-1.
Zok picked up the Bulls third singles win of the day in her match against Petrelli. Zok competed in the No. 4 position for USF, downing Petrelli 6-2, 6-2, giving the Bulls the fourth and final point that they needed to pick up the win over Yale.
Senior Ally Mueller competed in the No. 6 position for USF against Sarah Lederhandler. Mueller won the first set over Lederhandler, 6-2. In the second set Mueller led 4-2 before letting Lederhandler come back into the match and tying things up at four-apiece. Mueller went on to win the next two games, though, which gave her the 6-4 second set win.
Rehberger also competed in singles action for USF in the No. 1 position. This was a good battle between the two players, as Rehberger took the first set over Kent, 6-4. Both players continued to battle it out in the second set and it was Rehberger who picked up the 6-2 second set win.
Guevara closed things out for the Bulls in her match against Epstein, competing in the No. 5 position for the Bulls. Guevara picked up the first set over Epstein 6-4, but Epstein would come back and win the second set 6-2 which sent the match into a tiebreaker set. Both players managed to keep things close in the tiebreaker set but in the end Guevara would fall to Epstein 10-7.
With the win - USF's third straight - the Bulls improve to 8-4 on the season. USF will be back in action on Tuesday, March 16, when they host New Mexico State at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
