TAMPA, Fla., March 8, 2021 – The University of South Florida women's tennis team fell short against a No. 24-ranked Furman on Monday.
 
Laura Pellicer (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) and Grace Eland (Manchester, England) dropped their doubles set, 6-2 to the doubles pair of Maggie Pate and Ellie Schoppe. Soon after, Furman's Madison Dillon and MaryAnn Rompf clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 victory against Grace Schumacher (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) and Margriet Timmermans (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands).
 
The Paladins clinched the duel for themselves after the first three singles matches ended in their favor, but the Bulls continued to battle on the remaining courts. After dropping the first set, 6-4, Schumacher fought her way back to take set two, 6-3 but eventually lost in a tie breaker. Evelyne Tiron (Bucharest, Romania) came up big to win her second match of the season and get the lone point for South Florida in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5.
 
Quotable
Head coach Cristina Moros on Monday's loss:
"Furman played an excellent match and deserved the win today. This team is very close to having a breakthrough but we need to be more aware of the opportunities we are earning and capitalize on them. Evelyne has been working hard and it was great to see that hard work get rewarded with a win today.
 
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. #15 Katarina Kozarov (FUR) def. Laura Pellicer (USF) 6-2, 6-2
2. Julia Adams (FUR) def. Amelie Boy (USF) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Madison Dillon (FUR) def. Grace Schumacher (USF) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
4. MaryAnn Rompf (FUR) def. Alexandria Mjos (USF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Evelyne Tiron (USF) def. Maggie Pate (FUR) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5
6. Ellie Schoppe (FUR) def. Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: (1,6,4,2,3,5)
 
Doubles competition:
1. Amelie Boy/Evelyne Tiron (USF) vs. #27 Julia Adams/Katarina Kozarov (FUR) 2-5, unfinished
2. Madison Dillon/MaryAnn Rompf (FUR) def. Grace Schumacher/Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-2
3. Maggie Pate/Ellie Schoppe (FUR) def. Grace Eland/Laura Pellicer (USF) 6-2
Order of Finish: (3,2)
 
Up Next:
South Florida travels to Miami to play FAU on March 16 at 10 a.m. ET followed by a match against No. 30 University of Miami on March 17 at 11 a.m. ET.
 
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.