Gabriella Duch reached the finals in the Flight A singles bracket of the Gator Fall Classic to lead the USF women’s tennis team this weekend.

Duch, who lost in the finals to University of Florida sophomore Boglarka Berecz 7-5, 6-4, was joined by teammates Marie Andrade and Luisa Obando in winning first-round matches.

Andrade won her opening match 6-0, 6-3 Saturday before falling in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Flight A bracket.

Obando won two close matches, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 in the first round and 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, before losing in the semifinals of the Flight B bracket.

The Bulls sent four players to the consolation round, but only Gina Craig in the Flight B bracket won a match, posting a 6-3, 6-2 victory as she reached the consolation semifinals.

The team won one of three matches in the doubles bracket, an 8-6 first-round victory by the tandem of Andrade and Duch, but lost both of its doubles consolation round matches.

The team will have this weekend off as it prepares to host the USF Invitational Oct. 24-26.

Cross Country 29th at Disney Classic

The USF women’s junior varsity cross country team finished 29th out of 32 teams at the Disney XC Classic in Orlando Saturday. The JV team was USF’s lone representative as the varsity team rested in preparation for the Penn State National Open this Saturday.

Freshman Mineo Mostafavifar led the team with a time of 22:20.70 to finish 210th in the field of 289 runners. Mostafavifar’s performance earned her the opportunity to run at Penn State.

Freshmen Shady Knorramian (226th) and Stacey Brown (239th) and sophomores Keri Scharnagl (252nd) and Amanda Kling (279th) rounded out the USF team. The meet was the lone JV-only meet of the season.

After the Penn State National Open, USF hosts the Conference USA championships Nov. 1.

Adam Becker