The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
South Florida (NCAA Championship round of 64)
No. 23 Women's Tennis blanks South Florida in opening round of NCAA Championships
05.13.2011 | Women's Tennis
May 13, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - No. 23 Texas (17-7) took the doubles point and quickly picked up three singles victories in a 4-0 victory over South Florida (11-12) in the opening round of the NCAA Championships Friday at The University of Miami's Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The Longhorns advance to the NCAA round of 32 and will take on host Miami, the top seed in the Coral Gables Regional and the No. 5 national seed. Miami (19-6) defeated Florida International in the second match of the day. The Texas-Miami match is set for a noon Central start on Saturday. Live scoring will be available at HurricaneSports.com. The winner will compete in the NCAA round of 16 on Friday, May 20 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Texas ran off victories at the third and first doubles slots to pick up the doubles point. UT's Juliana Gajic and Maggie Mello led off with an 8-2 win over the Bulls' Alessandra Bonte Ale and Kate Parker at the third slot. The Horns clinched the doubles point at the first slot, where UT's 44th-ranked tandem of Amanda Craddock and Cierra Gaytan-Leach picked up an 8-6 win over South Florida's 71st-ranked tandem of Janette Bejlkova and Loreto Martinez. The remaining match at second doubles was suspended given that the doubles point had been clinched.
UT's Gaytan-Leach pushed the Texas lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over USF's Parker at sixth singles. The Texas lead ballooned to 3-0 at fifth singles, where Gajic dealt USF's Bonte Ale a 6-1, 6-0 loss. The Longhorns clinched the team victory at fourth singles, where Craddock finished off a 6-3, 6-0 win over USF's Martinez.
NCAA Championships - Round of 64 (Opening Round) Texas 4, South Florida 0
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 1
1 #44 Amanda Craddock/Cierra Gaytan-Leach (UT) def. #71 Janette Bejlkova/Loreto Martinez (USF) - 8-6
2 Krista Damico/Aeriel Ellis (UT) vs. Ecaterina Vasenina/Irene Rehberger (USF) - 5-4, susp.
3 Juliana Gajic/Maggie Mello (UT) def. Alessandra Bonte Ale/Kate Parker (USF) - 8-2
Singles - Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4
1 #21 Aeriel Ellis (UT) vs. #35 Irene Rehberger (USF) - 4-6, 3-2, susp.
2 Krista Damico (UT) vs. #93 Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) - 2-6, 2-1, susp.
3 Maggie Mello (UT) vs. #61 Janette Bejlkova (USF) - 6-3, 2-5, susp.
4 Amanda Craddock (UT) def. Loreto Martinez (USF) - 6-3, 6-0
5 Juliana Gajic (UT) def. Allesandra Bonte Ale (USF) - 6-1, 6-0
6 Cierra Gaytan-Leach (UT) def. Kate Parker (USF) - 6-2, 6-2
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Patty Fendick-McCain
"We played solid in doubles. We had our game plan. We had played them before so it was nice to have a known opponent and you know what you are going up against. USF has a really good team with a great coach who is doing a great job with them. I think it was a little bit to our advantage because we knew what we were coming into. We played well today and competed well. That's all you can ask.
All three [in the bottom half of the line-up] have been really solid for us all year. They are doing a great job. Up top, it's always tough because everybody always has such good players up there. It comes down to depth at the bottom of the line-up and that has been big for us."
