Tennis: WVU Dominates Pitt
February 11, 2010 06:49 PM | General
February 11, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University tennis team (5-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) defeated the Panthers in a 5-2 match today, in Pittsburgh, Pa.
“We definitely showed experience in the way we played against Pitt and it was a good team effort overall,” says coach Marc Walters. “Today was a sign of our team getting better and learning how to play against tougher competition.”
The Mountaineers won the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and 3 spots. Senior Stephanie LaFortune and redshirt junior Monique Burton won a close 8-6 match over Pitt’s No. 1 pair Elizabeth Adams and Shannon Benic, while junior Ashley Pilsbury and freshman Liv Pettersson defeated the Panther’s Adela Aprodu and Karma Parbhu in an 8-3 match.
WVU dominated the singles competition with four wins in the No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 spots. No. 2 Burton captured the first singles point with a 6-1, 6-2, victory over Aprodu, while sophomore Veronica Cardenas followed in the No. 3 spot as she defeated Benic in a 6-4, 6-2, match.
The Mountaineers finished the day with wins in the No. 5 and 6 spots by sophomore Kathryn Haught in a 7-5, 6-4 match against Pitt’s Sabrina Visram, followed by Pilsbury’s 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, victory over Parbhu.
The only singles losses of the day were played by No. 1 LaFortune who was defeated in the tough third-set tiebreaker against Adams, along with No. 4 Mathis’ 7-6(4), 6-3, loss to Pitt’s Gabrielle Catanzariti.
“We’re starting off 1-0 in the BIG EAST, which is much better than how we started off last year,“ adds Walters. “Now we have an opportunity to build on our season.”
