SAN FRANCISCO –– The USF women's tennis team earned its first conference win of the season with a 4-2 victory over Portland on Friday afternoon at the Olympic Club.

In doubles action, the Dons came up with big wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts to claim the point. Freshmen Shanna Dos Santos and Hanna Börjeson teamed up to beat Radina Dimitrova and Tatiana Grigoryan 6-3 and claim the victory. With a chance to push the Dons ahead 1-0 in the match, Genevieve McCloskey and Sofia Holmberg put away Tori Troesch and Emily Gould with a dominant, 6-1 win. 

However, Portland battled right back to take matches on the No. 4 and No. 3 courts to go up 2-1. Grigoryan beat Dos Santos at No. 4, 6-2, 6-2 and Maja Mladenovic made quick work of McCloskey, winning 6-2, 6-1. Despite falling behind in the match, USF swung the momentum right back in its favor. Senior Andrea Ka, entering the match with an 8-2 record on the No. 1 court, lost the first set to Lucy Butkovska, but came back to win 6-1, 6-3 to give the Dons their second point. Saroop Dhatt took an early lead against Holmberg at No. 5, but the Don was able to turn things around and pick up the victory with 6-2, 6-1 in the second and third sets. 

Just like Ka and Holmberg, Taune went down early in her match, losing the first set 6-3 to Dimitrova. The junior was able to pull herself back into the match and earn the 6-3, 6-4 win to lift the Dons to their first conference victory.

"We lost first sets on all six courts but our seniors really stepped up and everyone believed and competed the entire match," said head coach Hilary Somers. "It's a great win but we know we have just as tough an opponent tomorrow with Gonzaga. We look to use momentum and confidence going into tomorrow."

The Dons look to pick up the weekend sweep on Saturday against Gonzaga at 1 P.M. at the Olympic Club.


Doubles Results
No. 1 Ka/Taune vs. Butkovska/Mladenevic DNF
No. 2 Dos Santos/Borjeson def. Dimitrova/Grigoryan 6-3
No. 3 McCloskey/Holmberg def. Troesch/Gould 6-1

Singles Results
No. 1 Ka def. Butkovska 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Taune def. Dimitrova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Mladenovic def. McCloskey 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Grigoryan def. Dos Santos 6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Holmberg def. Dhatt 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 Borjeson vs. Troesch DNF