The No. 42 University of South Florida women's tennis team earned a 4-0 win over DePaul on Saturday to advance to the championship match of the BIG EAST tournament. The Bulls will take on Notre Dame at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday at the Courtney Tennis Center on the campus of the Fighting Irish.
“It was a nice win for us because they knocked us out of the tournament in the semifinals last season,” USF head coach Agustin Moreno said. “We felt all year that we could have a chance to play Notre Dame for the championship, and that's what we'll do tomorrow.”
USF's semifinal match was moved indoors to the Eck Tennis Pavilion due to cold temperatures and high winds. After a contentious doubles point, USF grabbed the first three singles matches to secure the victory.
Janette Bejlkova quickly dispatched Kelsey Lawson, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3 to put the Bulls up 2-0. Ecaterina Vasenina won tiebreakers in both sets to earn a difficult 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) win over Gia McKnight at No . 2 before senior Irene Rehberger clinched the match with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over Katarina Milinkovic at No. 1.
Because only three courts were available indoors, Loreto Alonso Martinez and Alessandra Bonte were early in their matches when play was stopped. Kate Parker was never forced onto the courts.
In doubles play, Rehberger and Vasenina earned a 9-7 win at No. 2 over McKnight and Lawson to clinch a very closely contested point. Bejlkova and Martinez earlier grabbed an 8-4 win over Milinkovic and Selma Salkovic at No. 1 before Bonte and Parker dropped their contest 8-4 to Raymond and Gustafson.
The Bulls improve to 11-10 this season with the win and are now 4-0 vs. BIG EAST teams. USF defeated the Fighting Irish 5-2 in Tampa earlier this season.
No. 2 USF, 4 vs. No. 3 DePaul, 0
Match 10 – Women
April 30, 2011
Eck Tennis Pavilion, 12:00 p.m.
Doubles:
1. Janette Bejlkova / Loreto Alonso Martinez (USF) def. Katarina Milinkovic/ Selma Salkovic (DU), 8-4
2. Irene Rehberger/ Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) def. Gia McKnight/ Kelsey Lawson (DU), 9-7*
3. Cali Gustafson/ Christiana Raymond (DU) def. Alessandra Bonte/ Kate Parker (USF), 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Irene Rehberger (USF) def. Katarina Milinkovic (DU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5*
2. Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) def. Gia McKnight (DU), 7-6(2), 7-6(3)
3. Janette Bejlkova (USF) def. Kelsey Lawson (DU), 6-2, 6-1
4. Loreto Alonso Martinez (USF) vs. Christiana Raymond (DU), 6-4, 0-3, DNF
5. Alessandra Bonte (USF) vs. Cali Gustafson (DU), 2-1, DNF
6. Kate Parker (USF) vs. Samantha Kaneta (DU), DNS
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Duration of Match: 4:15
