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SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Paced by a trio of Dons earning West Coast Conference honors, USF prepares to take to the courts at San Diego's Barnes Tennis Center for the conference championships.
With play slated to start Wednesday, the sixth-seeded women's tennis team will square off against No. 7 Gonzaga in the first round of play, with first serve slated for 3 p.m. The match winner will advance to compete against either No. 3 Saint Mary's or No. 10 Pacific in the quarterfinal round Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
With the top two seeds earning double byes in the bracket seeding, the semifinalist from USF's foursome of teams will meet No. 2-seed BYU Friday at 12:30 p.m., with the championship match culminating Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
USF has seen all four of its potential opponents on the bottom half of the bracket, finishing with a combined 2-2 record. Most recently, the Dons closed the regular season against newest conference foe, Pacific, with a 6-1 win April 18.
USF posted a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs in its meeting on April 12, as the Dons nabbed their sixth sweep of the season. In that dual, USF's singles lineup took five of its six points in straight sets, and the Dons earned victories in the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles matches to keep a clean sheet.
Highlighted by No. 1 singles player Andrea Ka, the Dons have played to a 15-7 overall record and its second-straight winning season. Ka, a sophomore from Paris, France, was recently tapped to the All-WCC first team for the second time, and is just the second Don to find her name on the first team listings. Currently ranked No. 104 by ITA Tennis, Ka has compiled a 16-4 record in the spring and has defeated her last five opponents.
Ka, the 2013 Freshman of the Year, was succeeded by USF teammate Thyra Taune, who earned honors for the league's top newcomer. Taune, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, opened her first season of collegiate tennis with a 16-6 spring record, and has also nabbed victories in her last five matches. Interestingly, only two of her 16 wins have needed a decisive third set.
Playing from the third position is fellow Swede, Sofia Holmberg. Entering with a dual match record of 10-10, she stands as one of five Dons to reach the 10-win plateau in the spring. Marina Nikolic, a junior from Mountain View, Calif., has compiled a 14-6 record in the spring. She has posted a 6-2 mark over WCC foes, all from court No. 4, en route to a conference honorable mention nod.
Earning the nod for the fifth spot in the lineup, Milica Hadzi-Tanovic took a victory over Gonzaga's Isabell Klingert in her last time on the court. Brooke Irish, a solid performer for the Dons from the No. 6 position, enters the postseason with a 13-6 dual match record.
USF's top tandem of Ka and Nikolic lead the way for the Dons in doubles action. With wins in their last 11 matches, including a perfect 7-0 WCC record, the duo took first-team All-WCC honors. Closing the spring with a 17-3 record, two of their three losses came at the hands of Pac-12 foes California and Arizona. USF couplings of Holmberg and Taune, and Hadzi-Tanovic and Irish will also take to the court after compiling winning records in the spring season.
Last season, the Dons played to a fifth-place finish in WCC postseason play. USF defeated Portland 4-2 in the first round before succumbing to fourth-seeded San Diego in a hard-fought 4-3 battle in the quarterfinals. USF has never finished higher than fourth in the league brackets, but with a youthful – yet seasoned – seniorless squad, the Dons are poised to challenge each team it crosses in the 2014 WCC Championships.
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