USF Athletics

USF Starts AAC Tournament Against No. 9 Seeded Cincinnati

April 21, 2021

MATCHUP: No. 9-seed Cincinnati vs. No. 8-seed South Florida
WHEN: Thursday, April 22, 9 a.m.
LOCATION: Lake Nona, Fla.
 
TAMPA, FLA., April 21, 2021 – The University of South Florida women's tennis team earned the No. 8-seed in this week's American Athletic Conference Tournament and will face ninth-seeded Cincinnati on Thursday at 9 a.m. at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.
 
USF was scheduled to play Temple, originally seeded ninth, but due to COVID-19 within their program, the Owls pulled out of the tournament.
 
"(We're) Excited to start our conference tournament tomorrow," head coach Cristina Moros said. "It is the motivation for everything that we go through to this point, and the goal is to be playing our best tennis now. We have had success in past tournaments because our teams really take to heart how they want to finish, and this team will continue in that tradition. We haven't seen a Cincinnati team in a while, but we know they always compete very well and we have enjoyed our battles through the years. I expect this time to be no different."
 
The Bulls' eight-seed is the lowest seed that USF has secured in the past four years. USF won the title as the No. 7-seed in 2017, defeating Tulsa, 4-2. In 2016, South Florida earned the No. 2-seed, but fell to the Golden Hurricane in the championship match, 4-0.
 
The last AAC Tournament was held in 2019, where USF earned the No. 2 seed but fell to UCF in the final, 4-0.
 
Only three Bulls have experience with play in the AAC Tournament: Amelie Boy (Trianon, Mauritius), Alex Mjos (Austin, Texas), and Laura Pellicer (Gandia, Valencia, Spain), who all played doubles and earned singles wins in 2019.
 
Jessica Cortes, USF's volunteer assistant coach, has first-hand experience as she was a major factor in the Bulls' 2017 championship run, winning a doubles and a singles point against Tulsa. 
 
Scouting Cincinnati
The Bearcats enter as the No. 9-seed in the tournament with a 6-9 overall record and 0-4 conference record. Cincinnati is coming off of a three-match win streak against Butler (6-1), Marshall (4-3), and Western Kentucky (4-3).
 
The Bearcats are led by Ioana Guna, who holds a 5-10 singles record at No. 1, along with Cassie McLay at the No. 2 spot with a 4-8 singles mark.
 
USF holds a 5-0 advantage over Cincinnati in the all-time series.
 
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.