‘Noles with no need for a No. 1

Despite the absence of its No. 1 player, the Florida State women’s tennis team shut out USF 7-0 Wednesday.

The host Bulls were unable to force a third set in any of the matches, even though the No. 50 player in the nation, FSU’s Anca Demitrescu, was unable to play her singles match due to an injury suffered in doubles.

“They have a lot of strong players, and I don’t think we were playing our game,” USF junior Gina Craig said. “We got caught into their game. We weren’t playing aggressive enough.”

Demitrescu re-aggravated a shoulder injury three points into the match. Because Demitrescu could not play, the Seminoles were forced to give the match to the Bulls.

The win was not enough for USF. They lost the other two doubles matches, winning only one game in one match and zero in the other, which gave FSU the point.

“It was disappointing,” USF coach Gigi Fernandez said. “But on the other hand, we got one game in the doubles match, so that was pretty bad. That was our worst doubles ever.”

Because of Demitrescu’s injury, each FSU player was moved up one spot, giving USF an assumed advantage. Fernandez was pessimistic despite the change in the Seminole lineup.

“They are good players,” said Fernandez. “We played them in the fall, and their No. 6 beat our No. 2.”

As Fernandez predicted, the Bulls did not have any advantage. Each match lasted only two sets, and in only one of those sets did a Bull win more than three games.

“They’re better,” Fernandez said. “Everything: more talent, better fitness, especially a bit more talent. I mean they are just better players.”

Despite the disappointment of a third straight loss, Fernandez insists that things will turn around.

“It’s going to get better. We have played most of our tough matches,” Fernandez said. “Believe it or not, we have a shot at .500.”

Fernandez said she believes that the Bulls will win some upcoming matches and have a few that could go either way.

“If we can win one of the matches that could go either way, we would finish .500, which is what we are looking at right now,” Fernandez said.

Contact Chris Wagenheim at oraclesports@yahoo.com