Panthers Outlast Duquesne, 4-3

Saturday, February 4

Pittsburgh, PA

4:00 PM

Pitt

Duquesne

2/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Feb. 4, 2016

HARMARVILLE, Pa. - The Pitt tennis team earned its second win of the season over cross-town rival Duquesne, 4-3, Saturday at the Alpha Tennis and Fitness Center.

The Panthers opened the dual strong by clinching the doubles point and recorded three singles victories.

Pitt cruised to two doubles wins over Duquesne, first at No. 3 as the sophomore duo of Gabriela Rezende and Natsumi Okamoto shutout Laurel Shymansky and Aishwarya Kona, 6-0. Senior Audrey Ann Blakely and sophomore Clara Lucas sealed the deal after a 6-3 win over Zuzanna Stelmaszak and Sara Mitrovic on court two.

Entering singles with a 1-0 advantage, the Panthers quickly found themselves tied with the Dukes after Lucas fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to Ally Miller.

However, Pitt regained the lead, 2-1, after Rezende routed Stelmaszak, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3 singles. Her No. 3 win improves her record at that position to 2-1, while she also improves to 12-4 on the year overall.

Not backing down, Duquesne turned in the next win to tie the dual yet again, 2-2, as Okamoto dropped a straight set decision to Shymansky, 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 6 spot.

Junior Callie Frey recorded her 12^th win of the year as she earned a straight set win at No. 4, bringing the lead back in favor of Pitt, 3-2. Frey had a strong showing early on in the first set, winning five straight sets. However, Kona showed some fight as she took the next two. It wouldn't be enough though, as Frey won the first set, 6-3. Kona led the majority of the second set, until Frey was able to knot it at 4-4 and claim the last two, en route to a 6-4 second set victory.

Needing just one more singles win to lock up the dual, redshirt senior Amber Washington was the Panther up for the task. Playing the No. 1 position, Washington struggled in the first set, as she was only able to take one from Kylie Issacs. The St. Paul, Minn., native bounced back in the second set as she downed Isaacs, 6-1. In the third set, it seemed as though Washington had the set locked up, leading as much as 5-2. Isaacs worked her way back to tie it 5-5, then took a 6-5 lead before Washington tied it up again 6-6. With the dual on the line, Washington dominated Isaacs in the tiebreaker, 7-3.

Duquesne earned its last win of the night at No. 2 singles after Blakely fell to Herman, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-1.

Doubles

1: Amber Washington/Callie Frey (UP) def. Kylie Isaacs/Julianne Herman (DUQ), 5-3

2: Audrey Ann Blakely/Clara Lucas (UP) def. Zuzanna Stelmaszak/Sara Mitrovic (DUQ), 6-3

3: Gabriela Rezende/Natsumi Okamoto (UP) def. Laurel Shymansky/Aishwarya Kona (DUQ), 6-0

Singles

1: Amber Washington (UP) def. Kylie Isaacs (DUQ), 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)

2: Julianne Herman (DUQ) def. Audrey Ann Blakely (UP), 2-6, 7-6 (6-4), 6-1

3: Gabriela Rezende (UP) def. Zuzanna Stelmaszak (DUQ), 6-3, 6-1

4: Callie Frey (UP) def. Aishwarya Kona (DUQ), 6-2, 6-4

5: Ally Miller (DUQ) def. Clara Lucas (UP), 6-2, 6-1

6: Laurel Shymansky (DUQ) def. Natsumi Okamoto (UP), 6-4, 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,3,6,4,1,2)

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