USF Athletics

Bulls Fall 4-0 Against No. 1 Stanford

January 25, 2020

TAMPA, JANUARY 25, 2020– South Florida women's tennis dropped their first match of the season and first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff to Stanford, 4-0.
 
Freshman Grace Eland (Manchester, England) and sophomore Laura Pellicer Perello (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) started the doubles play off strong for the Bulls by winning the first game, but Stanford's Michaela Gordon and Janice Shin were able to come back and win the set 2-6. On court three, Sarah Choy and Emma Higuchi defeated senior Janvhi Clark (Tauranga, New Zealand) and junior Evelyne Tiron (Bucharest, Romania) 2-6 to secure the doubles point for Stanford. Sophomore Amelie Boy (Trianon, Mauritius) and junior Alexandria Mjos (Austin, Texas) battled hard on court one with a 4-3 lead, but the match went unfinished once Stanford clinched the doubles point.
 
Eland got her first singles action of the season at the No. 6 spot, but was defeated by Higuchi in straight sets, 2-6, 0-6. Stanford then increased their lead to 3-0 once Lucia Garrigues (Valencia, Spain) was defeated by Choy in straight sets as well, 0-6, 2-6.
 
On court one, Boy dropped her first set, 0-6. However, she continued to fight hard through the second set, but eventually dropped the second set, 3-6 to Gordon, who is the reigning Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year and clinched the win for Stanford.
 
Courts two, three, and four matches went unfinished, but Mjos put on a stellar performance against the No. 49 ranked singles player Shin. She was the only Bull to win a set in the singles matches.
 
Quotable
Head coach Cristina Moros on Friday's victory:
"Very grateful for the opportunity of our young team to experience what it's like to play a team that has won three out of the last four national championships. I was very proud of the way we found a way to compete at certain spots, in particular with Alex and Laura finding ways to compete with the best college tennis has to offer. I know this team will learn from this match and use it as a teaching tool for years to come."
 
Up Next:
USF will be facing Denver on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
 
Scouting the Opponent:
University of Denver
University of Denver is currently 2-1 on the season after falling to Washington State in the first round of ITA Kickoff Weekend. University of Denver wins this season were against Air Force and Gonzaga. Also, the Pioneers are reigning Summit League Champions for the past 5 seasons.
 
Denver will be led by No. 115 ranked freshman Britt Pursell, and will also be led by Sophomore Taylor Melville, who was named Summit League Player of the Week.
 
 
About Women's Tennis
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 sixth year at the helm, as she led the program to an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2017.