Pitt
Sergio Tacchini Invitational
Panthers Wrap Up Action at Old Dominion
10/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 5, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. —Junior Elizabeth Adams brought back a consolation finals win in women’s singles when the University of Pittsburgh women’s tennis team traveled to Old Dominion Collegiate Invitational this past weekend.
Adams (Reading, Pa./Wilson) had the most wins for Pitt in the tournament with a 4-2 combined record in both doubles and singles. Adams and her doubles partner Shannon Benic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) made the only semi-final appearance in the doubles main draw for Pitt.
The two edged out a win over the draw’s number one seeded Alex Bara and Josefin Hjertquist of Virginia Commonwealth in a tiebreaker 9-8 (3). The upset came after a big win in the first round when Adams and Benic defeated James Madison University’s Katherine Bulling and Megan Douglas, 8-3.
Adams and Benic went on to play Ivana Petrich and Montserrat Ripoll of Delaware in the semifinals, falling 8-3. Petrich and Ripoll went on to win the draw while Adams and Benic finished the weekend with a 2-1 record in doubles.
Other main draw wins in doubles for Pitt came off the freshmen team of Gabi Catanzariti (Pittsburgh, Pa./Sewickley Academy) and Karma Parbhu (Omaha, Neb./Millard North), and returners Adela Aprodu (Hamilton, Ont./Drake) and Minh Evans (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn).
Catanzariti and Parbhu won their first round match against Jenny Astbury and Silvia Panush of Norfolk State, 8-6, but fell 8-1 in the next round to Old Dominion opponents Diana Ivanova and Marija Citic. Ivanova and Citic went on to win the doubles draw for Flight C.
Aprodu and Evans also locked in an 8-6 victory over Morgan State’s Alexis McCoy and Nekesa Thomas. Next round the duo made it close but lost to Emma Brooks and Elise Leizerovich of Drexel, 8-4.
In the doubles consolation, junior Sarah Dieffenbach (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and sophomore Melissa Bostwick (San Fransisco, Calif./Mercy) won 9-7 in the quarterfinals, facing Casey Malcolm and Danielle Velardi of Mary Washington.
In singles, the Panthers had two semi-final appearances by Parbhu and Dieffenbach. After receiving a bye in the first round, Parbhu defeated Dyuti Das of Navy, 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of Flight C. Parbhu advanced to the semifinals, falling 0-6, 3-6 to Anais Gomar of Campbell University. She finished the weekend with a 2-2 record in both singles and doubles.
Dieffenbach followed a similar path after receiving a bye in the first round of Flight D. Dieffenbach made it through to the semifinals with a win over Howard University’s Yazmin Hooper 6-4, 6-3. In her semifinal match, Dieffenbach faced Marija Citic of Old Dominion and lost 0-6, 1-6. Citic went on to win the draw and Dieffenbach finished the weekend with a 2-2 record in both singles and doubles.
Pitt will travel to Blacksburg, Va. next, as members of the squad will compete in the ITA Tournament, hosted by Virginia Tech University starting Friday Oct. 23rd.
