Holly Cao picked up a win in the No. 1 singles match (photo
courtesy of DSPics.com).
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 20 University of South
Florida Bulls defeated the Harvard women's tennis team, 5-2, Monday
afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. The Crimson picked up
wins in the No. 1 and 2 singles matches.
The Bulls swept the doubles matches to start the afternoon.
Sophomore Holly Cao and junior Samantha Rosekrans lost 8-0 in the
No. 1 match to No. 15 Irene Rehberger and Melissa Koning. In the
No. 3 match, Caroline Davis and Alexandra Lehman jumped out to a
3-2 lead but eventually lost the match, 8-6, to Natalia Guevara and
Jessica Zok. With the doubles point claimed, the Bulls went on the
sweep the doubles matches with a 9-7 win over freshman Hideko
Tachibana and classmate Kristin Norton.
Freshman Sophie Chang lost, 6-0, 6-4, in the No. 5 match to
Guevara for the first singles point of the afternoon. Tachibana
picked up the first point for the Crimson with a 6-4, 6-1 win over
Koning in the No. 2 match. Norton dropped the first set, 6-1, in
the No. 3 match to Janette Bejlkova. In the second set, she led,
5-4, but Bejlkova battled back and picked up a 7-5 win to claim the
point.
The Bulls claimed the match victory as sophomore Samantha Gridley
dropped a 6-4, 6-0 decision to Allyn Mueller in the No. 6
match. In the No. 1 match, Cao won the first set, 6-3, over No. 35
Rehberger before falling in the second set, 2-6. Cao won the
tiebreaker set, 10-5, to pick up the second point for the Crimson.
In another match that was decided by a tiebreaker, Rosekrans lost
the first set, 6-3, to Zok in the No. 3 match but battled back to
win the second, 6-4. In the tiebreaker set, Rosekrans fell
10-6.
Will the loss, the Crimson fall to 6-5 on the season. Harvard
travels to California over spring break to take on California, St.
Mary's and Fresno State March 17-20.
Doubles
1. No. 15 Rehberger/Koning (USF) def. Cao/Rosekrans (Harvard),
8-0
2. Shumate/Bejlkova (USF) def. Tachibana/Norton (Harvard), 9-7
3. Guevara/Zok (USF) def. Davis/Lehman (Harvard), 8-6
Singles
1. Cao (Harvard) def. No. 35 Rehberger (USF), 6-3, 2-6, 10-5
2. Tachibana (Harvard) def. Koning (USF), 6-4, 6-1
3. Bejlkova (USF) def. Norton (Harvard), 6-1, 7-5
4. Zok (USF) def. Rosekrans (Harvard), 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
5. Guevara (USF) def. Chang (Harvard), 6-0, 6-4
6. Mueller (USF) def. Gridley (Harvard), 6-4, 6-0
