It’s got to be the shoes

The USF women’s tennis team cruised to a 5-2 victory over Stetson on Sunday, and did it wearing baby blue.

The Bulls inadvertently added a twist to the usual green and gold, sporting silver, white and baby blue tennis shoes in their victory over the Hatters.

Coach Gigi Fernandez said she placed an order to Nike for tennis shoes to match the Bulls’ green and white uniforms, but when the box arrived, it was filled with Carolina Blue shoes instead.

“We just ordered white shoes, and they came out blue. Don’t ask me; I don’t know why,” Fernandez said. “They don’t look very good with green, but that’s what we got. They’re just shoes.”

Gabriela Duch, who won her first match of the spring against Milica Milovanovic, didn’t seem to mind the shoe color.

“I love blue, for me blue is really nice,” Duch said. “I don’t know whose idea that color was but we can’t do anything (with the season already underway). We kind of look weird. We are different, and we have to use them, so who cares what color they are.”

The freshman said she felt a lot more comfortable in this match than in her loss in USF’s match against Jacksonville last week.

“I played well,” Duch said. “I made good serves, all my shots were good and, I moved well. I felt really good on the court. Mentally, I was much stronger than the last match. I was kind of nervous that first match, but in this one I was a lot better.”

Fernandez saw the improvement as well. She said it is sometimes hard for a player in their first collegiate match, but she said Duch played much better in her second match.

“She played great,” Fernandez said. “She played a lot better today than she did last match. She was more focused, more like she played in the fall. She lost two games all day, so it was a big day for her.”

The Bulls started off the match winning all three doubles matches and were then able to win four of six singles matches.

“They played a lot better today,” Fernandez said. “They took care of business.”

And as for the shoes, who knows? Maybe somewhere in North Carolina the Tar Heels are playing with dark green ones.