Panthers Conclude Day One of Wildcat Invite

Friday, September 30

Evanston, Ill.

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Pitt

Wildcat Invite

Panthers Conclude Day One of Wildcat Invite

9/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Sept. 30, 2016

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Pitt women's tennis team concluded its first day at the Wildcat Invite Friday at the Vandy Chrisite Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill.

"Hard work pays off," said Head Coach Alex Santos. "At the end of the day it comes down to commitment, and the love for the game of tennis, your school, your program and your teammates. There's a lot to be said about Gabriela [Rezende] and Jovana [Knezevic] in doubles going 2-0 for the day. In one of the matches the momentum shifted back and forth but they stayed resilient and played a very good breaker. Amber [Washington] found a way to win against a very good player and after saving a couple match points. If Amber keeps raising her expectations and working on the key areas of her game she will go places."

In singles action, sophomore Gabriela Rezende and redshirt senior Amber Washington both earned victories in their opening matches. Rezende defeated Jane Fennelly of Notre Dame 6-4, 6-4, while Washington outplayed Erin Larner of Northwestern 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.

Seniors Audrey Ann Blakely and Lolade Ogungbesan along with junior Callie Frey and sophomore Natsumi Okamoto fell in their opening matches in straight sets. The four Panthers will continue play in their respective consolation brackets Saturday

Pitt had four pairs compete in doubles play, with the duo of Rezende and freshman Jovana Knezevic being the only pair to move into the winner's bracket. The two opened with a 7-6 win over Wisconsin pair Michelle Linden and Melissa Pick and advanced again after defeating Rachel Chong and Jane Fennelly of Notre Dame by the same score.

Veteran duo Blakely and Ogugbesan fell to Iowa's Elise Van Heuvelen and Zoe Douglas 6-1 in their opener but bounced back to beat the Fighting Irish's Zoe Spence and Allison Miller 6-1.

Washington and Frey succumbed to the Wildcats' Lee Or and Larner 6-2 to begin doubles play and fell in the following round to a Michigan State duo.

Okamoto, who played doubles with Iowa's Aimee Tarun, dropped their match to the Spartans' Lexi Baylis and Aslina Chua and then fell in consolation play to a pair from UIC.

Singles

Purple Draw

Allison Miller (ND) def. Blakely (UP) 6-3, 6-1

Washington (UP) def. Erin Larner (NU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6

Green Draw

Jillian Rooney (NU) def. Frey (UP) 7-5, 6-3

Rezende (UP) def. Jane Fennelly (ND) 6-4, 6-4

White Draw

Rheeya Doshi (NU) def. Ogungbesan (UP) 6-1, 6-2

Miranda Rodriguez (UIC) def. Okamoto (UP) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles

Doubles A Draw

Van Heuvelen/Douglas (IA) def. Blakely/Ogungbesan (UP) 6-1

Blakely/Ogungbesan (UP) def. Spence/Miller (ND) 6-1

Or/Larner (NU) def. Washington/Frey (UP) 6-2

Truilloit/Memije (MSU) def. Washington/Frey (UP) 6-2

Doubles B Draw