Bulls Ready for Doubleheader Action on Home Courts
TAMPA, MARCH 10, 2020 – USF men's tennis, back from an 11-day break, prepares for a busy Wednesday at home against Penn and UNC-Wilmington. The Bulls haven't played at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts since their 7-0 shutout over Stetson, 31 days ago.
USF (7-4, 0-1) has had a challenging schedule this season but has pulled off impressive wins in the process. The team returns from a dominating weekend in Georgia, defeating both Georgia State and Georgia Southern, 7-0.
The No. 31 duo of
Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and
Rithvik Bollipalli (Hyderabad, India) have been a key part of the Bulls' success this season. The tandem is 4-3 on the top doubles court with back-to-back ranked wins over the No. 19 and No. 58 pairs from TCU and Georgia State, respectively.
Chase Ferguson (Melbourne, Australia) continues to shine in singles with a record of 8-2. The sophomore is joined by
Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) in doubles, currently riding a six-match win streak.
Scouting Penn
The Red and Blue return to USF for the first time since 2013, led by David Geatz in his ninth season at the helm. The match time is set for 9:30 a.m.
Penn (6-6) is winless on the road, dropping recent matches against then No. 18 Tennessee, No. 12 Baylor and Penn State. Sophomore Edoardo Grazinai leads the team 6-4 in singles on court one while the freshman tandem of Aditya Gupta and Harsh Parikh hold the best doubles record, 6-4 on court three.
Overall, South Florida leads the series over Penn, 2-0. The two programs last met in 2013 at USF where the Bulls left with the win, 5-2.
Scouting UNC-Wilmington
The Seahawks, coached by Mait Dubois in his 18
th season, will conclude Wednesday's doubleheader at 2 p.m.
UNCW (4-6) carries a two-match skid into Wednesday's meeting, recently falling to FGCU and Marquette. Sophomore Bruno Caula maintains the top singles court with a 4-2 record while he's joined by Daniel Groom to form the No. 62 doubles duo, currently 6-3 on court No. 1.
The Bulls lead the overall series, 5-3, with the most recent win from March 2017 in Tampa. USF earned its fifth straight shutout over UNCW that day, 4-0.
Quotable
Head coach Ashley Fisher on Wednesday's double-header action…
"We are excited to begin a stretch at home. March has always been a great month for us. Penn and UNCW are both accomplished teams and as always, we will need to bring our best energy and commitment"
About Men's Tennis
Be sure to follow USF men's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head coach Ashley Fisher will begin his fourth year at the helm of the program for the 2019 season after leading the Bulls to their fifth American Conference Championship title.
– #GoBulls –
