MEMPHIS, Tenn. (April 21, 2016) – The University of South Florida women's tennis team defeated Cincinnati, 4-0, Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of The American Championships at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center.
The No. 56 Bulls (16-6) jumped out to a quick lead by taking the doubles point. Freshman Nicole Dzenga (Harare, Zimbabwe) and senior Chloe Murphy (England) struck first for USF in doubles. Playing on court three, Dzenga and Murphy cruised to a 6-1 win.
Cincinnati (12-11) was able to take court two, so the doubles point came down to court two, featuring sophomores Juliana Cardoso (Descalvado, Brazil) and Jessica Cortes Chaves (Monterrey, Mexico). Cardoso and Chaves rallied from an early deficit to take the match 6-4. Head coach Cristina Moros was pleased to get the early lead.
“Doubles is always crucial, it sets the tone and momentum for the match,” said Moros. “We were going back and forth for a while on number two, where we were up, then they came back, so it was a little inconsistent but I think we competed better to win it.”
USF took the momentum from doubles straight into singles. Playing on court three, freshman Ana Roman Dominguez (Spain) tallied first for the Bulls. Dominguez made quick work of her opponent as she won 6-3, 6-0. The win for Dominguez was her 12th of the season.
The lead would be pushed to three by freshman Vanja Klaric (Serbia) playing on court five. The freshman looked sharp as she defeated her opponent in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Klaric is now a perfect 10-0 in singles this season.
Playing on court two, junior Vera Bessonova (Moscow, Russia) would clinch the match for the Bulls as she held off a late rally to win in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. Winner of her last nine matches, the junior is 11-3 in singles this season.
“We are just taking things one match at a time. We will meet as a team and talk about the little things we can do to get better,” said Moros. “We don't need to make any drastic improvements but we need to be a little bit better tomorrow than we were today.”
The Bulls, the No. 2 seed, are back in action Friday as they take on third-seeded SMU at 4 p.m. ET in the conference semifinals. The Mustangs are a familiar opponent for USF. The two teams matched up earlier this season and the Bulls defeated SMU, 4-2, at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts on March 12.
For more information on the USF women's tennis team, follow @USFWomensTennis on Twitter and for more information on the American Championships you can visit the website
HERE.
