TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 24, 2021 – The University of South Florida women's tennis team came back to defeat North Florida, 4-3, at home Wednesday.
 
Freshman Grace Schumacher (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) and sophomore Margriet Timmermans (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands) dropped their doubles set, 6-3 to Lucia Montano and Constanza Gorches. Soon after, North Florida's Valentina Mariotto and Kendall Nash clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory.
 
The Bulls (4-5) picked up the first two singles court to take the lead 2-1 when junior Laura Pellicer (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) took court two in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, followed by senior Alex Mjos (Austin, Texas) getting her fourth straight singles win, 6-1, 6-2. The Ospreys (3-4) were able to tie the match with a win on court one, but Timmermans regained the lead for USF, defeating UNF's Summer Yardley in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
 
North Florida picked up a win on court four to tie the match, 3-3, leaving court three to be the deciding point. Schumacher put on a strong performance to clinch the match in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to give the Bulls its third consecutive win and hand UNF their fourth straight loss.
 
Quotable
Head coach Cristina Moros on Wednesday's victory:
"It's not easy to turn a loss into a win a couple weeks later. Especially against a team like UNF. After playing a poor doubles point, I could not be more proud of the way the team rebounded in singles. It's not easy for a freshman to be in a situation with the match on the line and she proved to be warrior to clinch the win."
 
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. Lucia Montano (UNF) def. Amelie Boy (USF) 6-1, 7-6 (7-2)
2. Laura Pellicer (USF) def. Catherine Gulihur (UNF) 6-4, 6-1
3. Grace Schumacher (USF) def. Ana Paula Melilo (UNF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
4. Constanza Gorches (UNF) def. Evelyne Tiron (USF) 7-5, 6-2
5. Alexandria Mjos (USF) def. Valentina Mariotto (UNF) 6-1, 6-2
6. Margriet Timmermans (USF) def. Summer Yardley (UNF) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: (2,5,1,6,4,3)
 
Doubles competition:
1. Catherine Gulihur/Ana Paula Melilo (UNF) vs. Amelie Boy/Evelyne Tiron (USF) no result
2. Lucia Montano/Constanza Gorches (UNF) def. Grace Schumacher/Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-3
3. Valentina Mariotto/Kendall Nash (UNF) def. Grace Eland/Laura Pellicer (USF) 6-3
Order of Finish: (2,3)
 
Up Next:
Bulls will host Toledo on Wednesday, March 3 at 12 p.m. at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. Due to virus mitigation measures and the size of the venue, USF will not allow fans inside the USF Varsity Tennis Courts complex.
 
 
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.