No. 2 Women’s Tennis Bows Out in Quarterfinal Round, Dropping 4-1 Match to No. 7 USF

Thursday, April 20

Lake Nona, Fla.

2 pm CT

Tulane University

University of South Florida

Photo by: Ben Solomon

No. 2 Women’s Tennis Bows Out in Quarterfinal Round, Dropping 4-1 Match to No. 7 USF

Apr 20, 2017 | Women's Tennis

Green Wave finish year 22-7

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LAKE NONA, FLA. – The No. 2 seeded Tulane Green Wave's stay at the American Athletic Conference Championships was cut short after No. 7 seeded South Florida usurped the Wave 4-1 in the quarterfinal round. Sophomore Elena Muller recorded Tulane's lone point with a singles victory on court four.

The Olive and Blue jumped out in the lead in doubles after Sade Atkinson and Ivone Alvaro cruised to a 6-1 victory on court one, improving to 13-2 on the year as a pair. Over on court two, Muller and Sofia Kurtz were up 4-2 in the match and 40-love in the game but the Bulls rallied and rode the momentum to a 6-4 win. USF then clinched with a 6-4 win on court three.

South Florida then extended its lead to 3-0 after garnering straight-set victories on courts one and two. The Wave continued to battle as Muller got Tulane on the board with a 6-3, 7-5, victory on court four. As a result, the sophomore finished the year an impressive 19-3, marking the most wins on the team.

Sisti and Alvaro were both trying to position the Wave for a comeback as each won their first sets. Sisti's match went unfinished at 7-5, 3-4, on court five, while Alvaro's match was halted at 6-3, 3-6, 1-0.

The USF clincher occurred on court six where Kurtz almost took the first set, dropping 7-4 in the tiebreaker before Olga Martinez swept the second set.

The Green Wave now close the door on successful 2017 campaign in which they posted one of the biggest turnarounds in Division-I, improving from 8-14 a year ago to 22-7. It also marked the Wave's first 20+ win season in the post-Katrina era.

GREEN WAVE RESULTS
University of South Florida 4, Tulane 1
Singles competition
1. Ana Roman (USF) def. Kyla Klier (TLN) 6-2, 6-1
2. Vera Bessonova (USF) def. Sade Atkinson (TLN) 6-3, 6-4
3. Ivone Alvaro (TLN) vs. Juliana Cardoso (USF) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
4. Elena Muller (TLN) def. Nicole Dzenga (USF) 6-3, 7-5
5. Christina Sisti (TLN) vs. Jessica Chaves (USF) 7-5, 3-4, unfinished
6. Olga Martinez (USF) def. Sofia Kurtz (TLN) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Ivone Alvaro/Sade Atkinson (TLN) def. Olga Martinez/Vera Bessonova (USF) 6-1
2. Juliana Cardoso/Jessica Chaves (USF) def. Sofia Kurtz/Elena Muller (TLN) 6-4
3. Nicole Dzenga/Ana Roman (USF) def. Christina Sisti/Kyla Klier (TLN) 6-4