Women's Tennis: WVU Falls to No. 45 South Florida
April 21, 2006 03:03 PM | General
April 21, 2006
TAMPA, Fla. - The West Virginia University women's tennis team fell to No. 45 and second-seeded South Florida, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST tournament, Friday, April 21, in Tampa, Fla.
"It's disappointing of course, but South Florida is a great team and one of the best in the conference," head coach Dan Silverstein said. "We're very excited about playing two more matches and finishing as high as possible in the conference."
The Mountaineers (10-11) had great efforts from key players but the Bulls were too much to overcome. Sophomores Stacey Percival and Natalia Prinz fell at No. 1 doubles to Gabriela Duch/Neyssa Etienne, 8-1. At No. 2, senior Raynie Theis and junior Kelly Walsh lost an 8-4 match to Liz Cruz/Courtney Vernon.
In singles play, Prinz was defeated at No. 1, (6-0, 6-0) by No. 64 Neyssa Etienne. Percival dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision to No. 89 Liz Cruz at the No. 3 spot, while junior Ashley Constantine lost to Luisa Obardo, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 6.
Sophomore Monica Lyskawa was in the middle of her match at No. 2 with No. 90 Courtney Vernon when the match was called at 6-1, 1-1. Walsh was up 6-3, 1-0 over Gabriela Duch at No. 4, while Theis was trailing Iciri Rai at No. 5, (6-1, 3-0) when the matches were called. Constantine and sophomore Colleen Speaker were unable to finish their doubles match at No. 3 with Luisa Obardo/Courtney Vernon with a 6-3 score.
"Kelly is having a really outstanding tournament," Silverstein said. "Monica had a great showing against a nationally ranked player while Stacey battled hard against another top player."
West Virginia will take on the loser of the DePaul-St.John's match or the Louisville-Syracuse match in their next match tomorrow, April 22.
