April 23, 2006
TAMPA, Fla.--After qualifying for the Big East Championships for the first time in six years, freshman Kristy Borza was named the 2005-06 recipient of the University of Pittsburgh women's tennis team MVP Award following the squad's final match of the tournament, this afternoon. Pitt finished its season 12th in the conference with a nail-biting 4-3 loss to Marquette, holding a 14-9 record on the year.
Borza (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) finished off her opponent in two quick sets. With the victory, Borza boasts a 26-7 singles record, which ties Maria Paris' 1979-80 mark of 26 wins for first place on the most singles wins' list.
Borza's 21 doubles wins this season also tied the top spot on the most doubles wins in a season. Borza became Pitt's 22nd team MVP.
Senior Emily Hughes (Waynesburg, Pa./Canevin Catholic) won Pitt's first point of the match when she won 6-1 and 6-4 in singles action. Hughes finishes her career with 96 wins and ties the fourth-best singles-season mark with a 19-12 record this season.
Freshman Christie D'achille (Gibsonia, Pa./North Allegheny) posted the second point, finishing just before Borza, also in two sets. D'Achille finished the season with a 9-6 record.
Just as it had been all tournament, the double matches were competitive battles to the end, where every point mattered.
Junior Annie Davies (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) and senior Becky Emmers (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) teamed together in No. 3 doubles action and tallied Pitt's lone win in a dramatic finish. The No. 2 doubles team had already fallen to the Marquette duo and was watching as the No. 1 squad was battling in overtime.
Emmers faced a difficult serve because the final point for Marquette was just recorded on the No. 1 courts, when she tossed the ball into the air. As a team, Davies and Emmers were just one point shy of the win and they knew this was going to be the last rally. Davies and Emmers did win the point on that serve and finished the season 10-7 as a pair.
Doubles
Calbeto and Little def. Borza and Friedman 9-8 (6)
Watkins and Bonnelly def. Hughes and Smith 8-6
Davies and Becky Emmers def. Dabrowski and Metzler 9-7
Singles
Kristy Borza def. Beha Calbeto 6-3, 6-2
Lauren Little def. Leah Friedman 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4
Erin Watkins def. Annie Davies 6-2, 6-2
Emily Hughes def. Dominika Dabrowski 6-1, 6-4
Francina Bonnelly def. Carlie Smith 6-1, 6-4
Christie D'achille def Andrea Bucacek 6-4, 6-1
