TAMPA, MARCH 15, 2019 – USF women's tennis won its third consecutive conference matchup of the season against Wichita State, 4-1, to stay undefeated in The American, on Friday afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.
 
USF (8-7, 3-0 AAC), won the doubles point on courts one and three. On court three, the duo Laura Pellicer Perello (Gandia, Valencia, Spain), and Janvhi Clark (Taurange, New Zealand), cruised to a 6-2 victory, while seniors Nicole Dzenga (Harare, Zimbabwe), and Vanja Klaric (Gaborone, Botswana), battled against the No. 46 pairing of juniors Fatima Bizhukova and Marta Bellucco to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win. The match on court two went unfinished.
 
Klaric was the first Bull to win her singles match, with a score of 6-2, 6-1, on court two. Immediately after, Pellicer Perello won her match in straight-sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2, on court four, extending the Bulls' lead to 3-0.
 
Freshman Amelie Boy (Trianon, Mauritis), fell in her match against junior Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva 2-6, 4-6, on court three, giving Wichita State its only point of the match.
 
With USF ahead 3-1, Dzenga stepped up and was able to clinch the win for the Bulls, with a 7-6(5), 6-3, win on court five.
 
Seniors No. 43 Ana Roman Dominguez (Burgos, Spain), and Sandra Honigova on court one left their match unfinished, along with the match between sophomores Alexandria Mjos (Austin, Texas) and Alexandra Lazarova on court six.
 
Quotable
Head coach Cristina Moros on Friday's victory:
"That was a really tough match, and they're a very tough, well-coached team. We just handled some of the moments a little better than they did today."
 
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. #43 ROMAN, Ana (USF) vs. Sandra Honigova (WSU) 4-6, 5-3, unfinished
2. KLARIC, Vanja (USF) def. Esther Thebault (WSU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) def. BOY, Amelie (USF) 6-2, 6-4
4. PELLICER PERELLO, L (USF) def. Marta Bellucco (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. DZENGA, Nicole (USF) def. Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
6. MJOS, Alexandria (USF) vs. Alexandra Lazarova (WSU) 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
 
Doubles competition:
1. DZENGA, Nicole/KLARIC, Vanja (USF) def. #46 Fatima Bizhukova/Marta Bellucco (WSU) 7-5
2. BOY, Amelie/ROMAN, Ana (USF) vs. Esther Thebault/Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU) 6-6, unfinished
3. CLARK, Janvhi/PELLICER PERELLO, L (USF) def. Lingwei Kong/Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) 6-2
 
Match Notes:
Wichita State 8-7
South Florida 8-7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,4,3,5) Official: Kim Bonk T-2:50 A-63
 
Up Next:
USF will host Tulsa on Wednesday at noon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. Admission is free, and fans can enjoy free pizza.

Be sure to follow USF women's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head coach Cristina Moros will be in her fifth year at the helm, as she led the program to an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2017.