TAMPA, MARCH 7, 2019 – USF battled Penn on every court in a 5-2 tough loss on Thursday afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. Senior Ana Roman Dominguez battled to three sets for her fourth ranked win this season, and freshman Laura Pellicer Perello improved her record to 6-6 with a straight-set win on court three.
 
Penn clinched the doubles point with wins on court three, 6-0, and court one, 6-3. Down by one as they opened singles play, USF was ready to battle in singles. The Bulls took the first set on four courts including a tiebreak win by senior Nicole Dzenga (Harare, Zimbabwe) on court four, 7-6(4).  However, Penn played on its momentum and doubled its lead with a straight-set, 6-2, 6-2, win on court two over Amelie Boy to post the first singles point.
 
USF responded on court three when Pellicer Perello (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) defeated her opponent, 6-4, 6-4, at the third court, to put USF on the board and make the score 2-1.
 
The Quakers got a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alexandria Mijos on court six to improve their lead to 3-1, but USF continued to battle on courts one, four and five, fighting to a third set at each spot.
 
Senior Ana Roman Dominguez, ranked No. 43, faced No. 111 Iuliia Bryzgalova in her fifth ranked matchup of the season. The match was back-and-forth for almost every game. She battled to a third set and broke serve to go up 5-4, and finish the match with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on the top court for her fourth ranked victory of the season.
 
With two courts to go, USF needed both to clinch the match over the Quakers, but couldn't come back. Freshman Selin Yaylali fought from a 5-3 deficit to tie up her third set, 5-5. Penn's OJ Singh went up 6-5, and the pair battled to the deuce point where Singh would ultimately clinch the match for the Quakers, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
 
Dzenga also battled to the last game of set three on court four. She fought to a tiebreaker for the second time in her match, but lost, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4).
 
Quotable
"It was definitely a tough match. I think we just got outsmarted today. I thought we competed really well in some spots, but in the end, I don't think it was about tennis. They beat us with their minds and got us to fall into their game. It's time to regroup and prepare for Tuesday."
 
Match Results:
Penn 5, South Florida 2
 
Singles competition
1. #43 ROMAN, Ana (USF) def. #111 Bryzgalova (PENN) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. Kowalska (PENN) def. BOY, Amelie (USF) 6-2, 6-2
3. PELLICER PERELLO, L (USF) def. Curnic (PENN) 6-4, 6-4
4. Zhu (PENN) def. DZENGA, Nicole (USF) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Singh (PENN) def. YAYLALI, Selin (USF) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Richards (PENN) def. MJOS, Alexandria (USF) 6-4, 6-3
 
Doubles competition
1. Kowalska/Curnic (PENN) def. DZENGA, Nicole/KLARIC, Vanja (USF) 6-3
2. Bryzgalova/Singh (PENN) def. BOY, Amelie/ROMAN, Ana (USF) 5-1
3. Zhu/Xie (PENN) def. MJOS, Alexandria/YAYLALI, Selin (USF) 6-0
 
Match Notes:
Penn 8-2
South Florida 6-7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,3,6,1,5,4)
T-3:40 A-55
 
Up Next:
USF will host three straight conference matchups at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts over the next two weeks. SMU (March 12), Wichita State (March 15) and Tulsa (March 20) will all visit the Bulls. 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.
 
– #GoBulls –